Let Your Heart Lead You
by Miko xD
Summary: Ayuzawa and Usui have reached their last year of high school. Unfortunatly for Ayuzawa, Usui just happens to be in her class. Her family problems are overflowing and the pressure is starting to catch up. Will Usui be able to catch her before she falls? ON HIATUS
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Kaichou wa Maid-sama TT_TT

BUT, I own this story! Happy Reading to you all!

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She wasn't well off. She had a sister in Middle school and a mother who worked several jobs a day. Their house was barely big enough for the three of them. Her father ran of after he spent loaned money he knew he couldn't pay back, leaving them the debt. She hated men because of them. She worked 6 days a week, studied during breaks and on her days off. She was Student Council President, the demon from hell. Yet, her hard work alone, couldn't ease her pain. She was a dictator. Tried to get rid off all the evilness at the school while keeping her job a secret. She'd searched endlessly for one with reasonable hours that she could work between school, but only one shop considered her situation, a maid café. She hid everything well, no one knew about anything; not her job; not her life; not her pain. Not until he came along. Usui Takumi.

He was deceivingly rich. His father and older brother lived well off in a mansion. His family had always shunned him. He had no interest in the relatives he never knew. But he didn't hate them. He worked part-time as a chef and commuted to school by metro from a barren up-class apartment downtown. He had amazing grades and was incredibly popular. But, he had no interest in all that; not in the popularity; not in the girls who confessed to him daily; not in his hateful family. Not after he'd sworn he'd never let his heart out. And no one knew about any of it; not at school; not at home; not anywhere or anyone. Not until she came along. Ayuzawa Misaki.


	2. Take Care of Yourself, Idiot!

Misaki looked up at the clock and then tiredly back at her paperwork. 6 in the morning. She'd had no sleep this week. Not with the school's Open House coming up. She thought it'd be a lot easier this year, what with everyone somewhat co-operating and everything, but unfortunately, no. Her Vice-President had the flu. The accountant and sports clubs' representative were still out of town on vacation and the other members were slacking off...again. Her eyelids were heavy, but she had to stay awake. She still had another 2 hours to do the council work before homeroom started. She ran her left hand through her bangs, stopping when her palm touched her forehead. _Hot_, she complained. It was too hot. She'd already taken off her sweater and blazer. Anymore and it would be breaking school rules. _Shit, gotta concentrate._

Misaki took a deep breath, pushed back her wild hair and filed the paperwork like a machine. By 7:30, she was done. Misaki leaned back on her chair in relief, but she still couldn't let herself sleep. She reluctantly stood up and left the council room. She walked around the school, doing her daily inspection. It was quiet. Homeroom started in 30 minutes, but only a few people from some classes had shown up. She sighed and went back to her homeroom. Class 3-1 was absolutely empty, deserted. She welcomed the unnatural clam of the class before opening the windows to cool herself down. Misaki plopped herself down in her seat, front row, right next to the window. It could be extremely distracting, but also useful. Trying to keep her eyes open, MIsaki stared out the window. She observed the people arriving per minute, how many were breaking uniform regulations, how many girls, how many guys. She was so absorbed by keeping herself occupied, she didn't notice Usui Takumi sneak up behind her.

As she stared out the window, Takumi quietly leaned down and blew on her neck. The cold air rushing past her neck caused Misaki to snap out of her reverie and turn her head around almost violently. Already knowing who it was, she was going to yell at Takumi but his face was extremely close. He just smiled casually and brushed some of her hair back.

"Good Morning, Pres." he greeted, smiling, "You alright? You're a little pale."

It just so happened this year that they were in the same class, not to mention he sat right behind her. Misaki's face was bright red.

"Mornin' Usui." she grumbled.

At that very moment, she was glad the class was empty. Her face was bright red. She tucked her head into her crossed arms on the desk to hide her blush. She sighed, feeling the warm air run out of her mouth. She needed to cool down. The breeze coming in from the windows wasn't enough, especially now that Takumi was there.

As he sat down behind her, she could feel his stare burning into her back. She sighed, knowing he already knew something was wrong. She waited, yawning, for homeroom to start. The buzzing of the classroom slowly got louder as it filled with students. The day was like any other. Focus on studies, keep Takumi from distracting her during class, stay awake, torture the boys during the breaks and work with the student council after school. By the time she reached the café, it was late. She was so tired, she didn't even greet the manager as she stalked lifelessly to her locker to get changed. After changing, Misaki splashed her face with water and slapped on a smile. She rushed out to get to work and was surprised to see Takumi at a table drinking coffee. Recently, he hadn't been showing up as a customer, he'd been in the kitchen.

She ignored the severed pattern and continued to serve customers with as much of a smile she could muster. She was exhausted and swirls of colour danced across her vision, but Misaki wasn't about to rest any time soon. After work she still had a long walk home and another couple hours of studying and council work. After about an hour into her shift, Misaki spotted the manager sitting with Takumi. They were discussing something thoroughly and Takumi had at least 4 pages of notes in front of him and still writing. When she noticed the manager's dizzy tone and swirly eyes, she laughed tiredly. Takumi was overloading her brain with details again.

"Hey Usui! Isn't it about time you leave?" she called uselessly.

He just smirked mischievously at her before turning back to the manager. She sighed, checking the clock, time for her break. The café was too stuffy. She went out the back door, into the alley and leaned against the bricks. She breathed in the cooling autumn air. _Much better, _she sighed, relieved. She moved to wipe the sweat off her forehead with her forearm only to swab more on from her arm. Frustrated, she leaned down to wipe it on the skirt of her uniform. She closed her eyes and sat on the cement.

"I knew it!"

Takumi's voice caused Misaki to snap open her eyes only to stare him straight in the face. He was squatting down in front of her, inspecting her. His deep green eyes boring into her. She was annoyed.

"Knew what, idiot Usui?" she asked, uninterested.

She pushed him out of the way and stood up, about to walk away.

"Ever heard of personal space?" she asked annoyed at his sudden appearance.

He stood as well and pulled her to him, her back to his chest. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and slapped his right to her forehead.

"Yup." he answered simply.

She shivered. His hand felt so cold against her forehead. Almost like a block of ice. She barely noticed as Takumi draped his sweater over her shoulders and sat her down by the alley door. Her flesh was covered in goosebumps. Takumi took her face in his hands and pressed his forehead to hers. It was burning, but to her, everything was suddenly immensely cold. The cold of Takumi's forehead and the night air mixed with the warmth of her body and his sweater were making her dizzy. The exhaustion hit Misaki full force. Her eyelids drooped and her body felt limp. It was as if her brain had hit an off switch she didn't know existed. When she tried to lift herself off the ground, she only succeeded in falling onto Takumi. Takumi wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her warm.

Takumi was worried. Everywhere he touched, Misaki burned with fever. She was barely aware of her surroundings. He carefully wrapped his scarf around her neck. Her breaths were congested as if the air was incredibly humid. He lifted her into his arms finding she was incredibly light._ Damn. She's been skipping out on meals. That's why I always see her in the council room during lunch. Trying to stave off hunger with work._ He looked down at her. Misaki's eyes were closed, but she was still conscious. He leaned down to her ear.

"Don't fall asleep, okay." he whispered lightly.

If she fell asleep now, there was a great risk she wouldn't awake for at least a day or two. He rushed her through the alley door and sat down on the couch in the employee area off the café. He lay Misaki across his lap, trying to expose her to the warmth of the room. She was red with fever and the best thing to cool her down was probably some water, but he wasn't about to leave her here to get some. He sat there unmoving trying his best to cover her with his sweater and scarf. He'd managed to get her into the sweater without making her feel like she was suffocating and draped the scarf over her legs to keep her from shivering. Takumi was beginning to lose face. He was trying to check her temperature for the thousandth time when the manager came through the curtain.

"Satsuki-san!" he called. "Can you get me some cold medicine, a thermometer and a glass of cold water!"

Satsuki looked confused until she saw a red Misaki lying on the couch. She didn't even have time to go all 'moe' on them before she ran off. She came rushing back a few minutes later with a large glass in one hand and two jackets tossed over the other arm.

"I'm sorry, there's no medicine in the store. Erika and Subaru gave me their coats to keep her warm. And here's the water." she explained hurriedly. "I'm going to run down the street to the market to get a thermometer and some cold meds. Wait here! If you need anything, call Subaru-chan, she's on her break." With that, Satsuki ran out the door with her coat and wallet shoved into her pocket.

Takumi grabbed the water and made Misaki sit up as much as she could with his right arm as a support. He gently pushed the rim of the glass to her lips. "Come on Ayuzawa! You have to drink the water. If we don't cool you down from the inside, your temperature will keep rising."

It was no use. She was barely conscious anymore. "Come on, drink Ayuzawa! You can't fall asleep." He was panicking. Misaki didn't even know he was there anymore. She was semi-conscious, drifting in and out of La La Land.

In a split second decision, Takumi brought the glass to his lips and sucked in a gulp of the water. Then he quickly pressed his lips to hers. With his left hand to her face, he desperately pushed his lips forcefully against hers, prying them open, letting the water flow through. It took a few tries before she began swallowing the water and when she did she swallowed slowly, coughing. When he pulled away, she was gasping for air.

"You have to keep drinking." Takumi warned hurriedly. "You can take the medicine after you eat something."

His voice was rough. She could tell he was shaken up. She tried to grip the glass in her hand but it slipped through her fingers. Takumi barely caught it in time. She was sleepy and the world looked like a kaleidoscope of colours. In attempt to ease the dizziness a bit, Misaki leaned against whatever was closest...which happened to be Takumi. As he wordlessly pressed the glass to her lips, she noticed that her hair was loose. All the arm and leg bands including her boots had been removed. She thought about saying something but stopped herself when she noticed Takumi's mood. Misaki silently sipped the water and was still drinking when Satsuki came tumbling through the door. She shoved the thermometer into Misaki's mouth and handed Takumi a refill of water. Even if it seemed Satsuki was gone, she had joined Subaru in peeking through the edge of the curtain to the kitchen.

Misaki didn't even notice she was still on Takumi's lap. After finishing off the water, Takumi placed the glass by his feet and gently cradled her face in his hands. Misaki's blush was indiscernible through the fever. She continued to feel like an idiot when he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers in an effort of cool her down. She closed her eyes and pressed back weakly against him. The silent atmosphere was broken by the beeping of the thermometer. He gently pried it from between her lips and frowned at the results. Takumi looked up to glare at her.

"Is Ayuzawa an idiot!?" he fumed. "You have a fever of 102! Do you know why? Because you've been skipping out on meals and overworking yourself. Overworking youself puts enough stress on the body, even with a healthy diet, but your completely skipping out on 2 meals a day! TWO! You don't even wear a proper jacket and you wander around in thin clothing! It's not summer anymore, Ayuzawa! Its cold out there. No wonder you're sick!"

His breath was ragged as he tried to catch it. Misaki was conscious enough to catch parts of his little rant and said the first thing that came to mind. "I'm sorry." Her voice was hoarse even after all the water she drank and it came out in a throaty whisper. She blushed hard as she realized that his hand was still caressing her face. His thumb moved in soothing circles and he gave her the gentlest look she'd ever seen.

"You idiot." Takumi whispered before getting up.

As he stood, she tried to get up, but he held her down. She wasn't quite stable. "Sleep. I'll wake you up when your shift ends and take you home. You're too weak to work." he scolded before she could protest.

Her face was suddenly burning with an unknown heat, but Misaki didn't even bother looking up at him before dozing off.


	3. Eat your Heart Out

**YAY! I finally got chapter 2 up! Happy Reading!**

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She glared at everyone who walked by her. Misaki was extremely pissed. After she'd passed out yesterday, she'd woken up in her room. She had no recollection of what had happened after she took she walked into the alley. Takumi refused to tell her. On top of that, he seemed a little annoyed that she couldn't remember herself. She slumped against the window of the class angrily. All she knew was that she was still running a mild fever and that Takumi took her home. Her mom had told her that part. It kinda pissed her off. Takumi was a perverted outer-space alien. Who knew what he could have done to her? Misaki checked the clock and freaked. It was almost 12:30 and she still had a mountain of council work to get done by the time class starts. She was about to run off the the council room when someone's voice invaded her mind.

"_Is Ayuzawa an idiot!?"_

Misaki recognized the voice as Takumi's but didn't know where it came from. _Something he said yesterday perhaps._ She thought. As she made her way down the hall, her stomach grumbled. Again, Takumi's voice played in her head.

"_...skipping out on meals and overworking yourself!...your completely skipping out on 2 meals a day!!"_

The roughly clipped phrases played over and over. How did he know about that. She barely ate one meal a day. The company that had employed her mom had laid her off. So while Minako was looking for another job, Misaki's pay from the café was all they had. Suzuna insisted on getting a job too, but both Misaki and her mom argued against it. The two of them had enough to worry about. The last thing they needed was Suzuna getting a job. She yawned and stared tiredly at the pile of papers at the president's desk. She blinked a few times before slapping both her cheeks to wake her up. She hurried over to the desk to start filing through all the requests when she noticed Takumi by the window. She sighed. This was exhausting.

"What do you want now, Usui?" she asked.

It seemed like he hadn't known she was there when he stared at her with a surprised face, as if he was caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. Takumi was reluctant to talk but greeted Misaki anyways after slapping on a lazy smile.

"Yo. Waz' up, Pres?" He inspected her critically before glaring. "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Misaki flushed and ignored him, sitting at the desk to start working, but his hand came slamming down in front of her. _Holy Shit!_ She was sure he had been on the other side of the room a second ago...or had he been coming closer this whole time. Misaki was slightly disoriented, her depth perception not working. She didn't dare look up. If he tried anything now, she already knew that she had no strength to fight him off. She gulped and raised her head slowly to peek at him. He was glaring down at her intently. Misaki couldn't turn eyes head away.

"Did you really forget what happened yesterday?" he questioned.

Misaki dropped her gaze. For some reason she felt guilty. Like she was supposed to remember what happened, like it was important. But she just couldn't and what she did remember she wasn't about to tell him. She huffed and turned her head to face the window. She heard his sweaty hand lift from the table, but Misaki hadn't expected it to grab her arm. Her left wrist was held in Takumi's bruising grip. As she tried to pull his hand off with her uncaptured one, he grabbed that one in his free hand. He pulled her out of her chair and pushed her against the wall behind her desk. His eyes were still glaring at her calmly. Misaki knew he had never hurt her and would never hurt her, but still, she was terrified. Even when completely healthy, she stood no chance against Takumi, but now, when she couldn't even swat a fly, how was she going to get him off her. She uselessly pulled at her wrist, trying to break his grip. She knew he knew that it hurt.

"If you don't remember, maybe I should help you." he smirked, leaning towards her.

Misaki's face was completely red and had shut her eyes tight, leaning as far back against the wall to try and avoid him. But as Takumi leaned in closer, Misaki's stomach growled...loudly. Takumi stared at her in surprise for a few seconds before letting her go and Misaki's face could get anymore red, it did. It took Takumi a few minutes to wipe away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes before he could address her.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand, "We're going to eat."

He lead her to the locker room where he handed her a boxed lunch. Takumi lead her out of the building towards the yard and sat her down under one of the trees. He pointed to the box. "Eat it." he commanded. Misaki stared from him to the lunchbox then back to him. She gave him the most confused look he'd ever seen.

"Eh??"

"I know you haven't been eating Misaki-chan." he stared expectingly at her. "Now you'd better finish that off or else."

He plopped down next to her and waited, facing the other direction. Misaki stared down awkwardly at the lunchbox. She cautiously picked up the pair of chopsticks inside the box and began eating. As she silently forced the the food into her shrunken stomach, a thought hit her.

"Hey Usui," Misaki turned to him. "why do you always follow me around? I mean, aren't there other people that capture your interest?"

Takumi turned his head and gave her an awkward expression. Far from his usual teasing smirk, He wore a mixture somewhere between a smile and deep thought. He had a smile locked in place on his lips, but his eyes, though looked into her own, stared at her as if there was something else on his mind. He held that expression for a minute before turning back around.

"Finish eating." he said.

Misaki finished off the lunchbox and moved to get up but Takumi held her down.

"You need sleep." he told her strenly, "I wake you up in time for class."

At this point Misaki was skeptical, she wasn't sure why he knew so much. But he'd never lied to her before, so why now? She cautiously moved to lie on the grass and before she knew it, she'd dozed off. It seemed all too soon when she felt a hand lightly shaking her shoulder.

"Yo, Misa-chan, class is starting soon."

She opened her eyes to be greeted by the glare of the sun and Takumi's smirking face. She sat up, yawning slightly from her short nap. Takumi stood and began to walk off.

"Better hurry to class, Pres!" he called back to her.

As she hurried back into the building, Misaki caught a glimpse of the clock in the hall. She had 3 minutes to class...3 minutes. That's when it hit her.

She'd gotten no work done at all.


	4. Trouble at Work

It was Friday. The crowd at the station was thick and smelly. The 5pm rush was just starting and the metro cars were stuffed with busy people in a hurry to get places. Misaki barely managed to squish into the last car as the doors began to close. Even this early in the evening, she could smell the prominent stench of cigarette smoke and alcohol on wary businessmen. When she hurried out of the station into the waning light of the sunset, she breathed in a deep breath of gasoline from the passing bus. Misaki bent over and made a gagging motion, trying to cough out the horrible city smells. The day was not going good for her. She hurried down the street, pushing politely through the sheet of people lining the sidewalk. When she arrived at her destination, Misaki looked cautiously around her before slipping into the alley and disappearing through the café's back door.

She greeted the manager briefly as she whizzed past her and Erika (who was holding two trays mind you) towards the lockers. Already late for her shift, Misaki changed like she was on fire and rushed right out into the café to start working. She was serving customers as usual with Erika. Nothing was really out of place. Th idiot threesome was there as well as Hinata. The illusion of calm crept it's way into her mind as she worked. She'd just returned from her study break when someone flung themselves though he front door, bell clinging loudly with the impact. Misaki looked up. It was Suzuna. She was somewhat out of breath and her calm demeanor was broken. Instead her face was etched with worry. She grabbed Misaki, who dropped her empty tray as Suzuna gripped her by the arm and dragged her to the staff area at the back. Once by the kitchen, Suzuna gripped Misaki's shoulders, leaning on them to catch her breath.

"Mom," she breathed out.

The effect was instantaneous. Misaki's face contorted into an awkward expression of worry and confusion. She shook Suzuna. "What happened!" she demanded.

"Mom," Suzuna started again, "Mom passed out. She...she was making dinner...smoke...she just dropped...I didn't hear a thing!"

Suzuna dropped to the floor. "I...I called 911, but...but they wouldn't let me go with her after we arrived. She's at the hospital downtown! Please, come see her. They won't let me in, they say I'm not old enough!"

Misaki shot off faster than a bullet. In less than a minute she was dragging Suzuna out the alley door, fully changed. Suzuna lead her down to the dark metro, which was finally starting to drain of people, like her mother's declining health. Once they'd reached their destination, the two of them ran from the underground train and up the long flight of stairs, skipping two steps at a time. Misaki and Suzuna ran down the streets, and five blocks later, came the hospital. Misaki rushed to the Emergency area and asked for her mother's name. As the nurse stationed behind the desk checked the records, Misaki took deep breaths in attempt to calm herself.

"I'm sorry." the nurse said, gaining their attention. "Ayuzawa-san is in critical condition and was moved to the ICU about an hour ago."

"Which floor is it on?" asked Misaki hurriedly.

"Third floor. The elevator is down the hall to the left." the nurse pointed.

Before Suzuna could even process what had happened she was chasing after Misaki down the hall. "Onee-chan! Slow down!" she called.

Misaki was in such a hurry, she nearly smashed the "up" button for the elevator. She waited silently for a few seconds, sweat dripping from her face. After the light above the door indicated it was only one floor closer than before, she decided that it was taking too long and flung herself up the nearby stairwell. After rushing out early from work, running through a billion people and practically flying up three flights of stairs, Misaki was sweating from head to toe and incredibly frustrated. She quickly demanded to know where her mother was and was escorted by a nurse that seemed to shy away from her.

"You may stay outside the room, but are not allowed to enter. To enter you must be at least 18-years-old and must be sterilized. There are a few chairs in front of each room and a phone so that you can communicate." the nurse explained before nearly running off.

"Damn." Misaki swore. She was only 17. No wonder Suzuna wasn't allowed to see her. Misaki pressed her forehead up against the glass. There in the horribly white room, under horribly white sheets was a white Minako. She was breathing through a mask and had at least three tubes in her. Misaki plopped herself into one of the armchairs and dumped her bag on the cold floor. She sighed and slumped in her seat. She put her head in her hands, elbows to her knees.

It wasn't long before Suzuna came panting down the hall. Though she didn't say anything, Misaki knew she was pissed and worried. It wasn't more than a hour when the doctor came to see her. Suzuna was sleeping soundly on the chair beside her.

"Excuse me?" the man asked. He was middle-aged, thin strands of white showing beneath the mass of short brown hair. He was about Misaki's height, chubby and had some wrinkles around his mouth. They made his tried smile seem all the more worn out. "Are you family of Ayuzawa-san?"

MIsaki immediately stood up. "Y...yes." she replied politely, "Ayuzawa Misaki, her eldest daughter."

"Well then, Ayuzawa-chan, I would like to discuss some things with you." he offered.

"Of...of course." was his cue to begin.

"Your mother seems to have practically starved herself. She has almost no nutrition in her body, that is why she collapsed. We've run a MRI, and it seems she has some abnormal masses wedged between her stomach and intestines. They are pushing on her stomach, that is why she hasn't eaten. There are so many masses that her stomach is pushed in more than half-way, meaning she has no appetite. Instead she would have felt the urge to vomit. We will keep an eye on her for a few days. During that time, she will be on several IV drips to stabilize her health and give her nutrients. Feeding her something would be dangerous at this point. Do you understand so far?" he said catching his breath.

Misaki just nodded seriously.

"During the next few days that she is here, I would like you to consider surgery to remove the masses. As things are right now, the masses could continue to grow and rip open her stomach. After the results we've gotten from the tests we've run, without surgery, I would say your mother has about a month left live. If her stomach is ripped open, even if she is still in the hospital, there is only a 1/10 chance that we will be able to stop the bleeding in time. If not, she will die of internal pressure on her organs regardless."

"About, how much does the surgery cost?" Misaki asked cautiously.

"1 million yen." the doctor stated.

* * *

Misaki gently woke Suzuna from her sleep.

"Come on Suzu, it's 9;30, visiting hours are over."

As the two of them left the building, Suzuna turned to Misaki.

"So," she asked emotionlessly, "where are we going."

Misaki sighed. She had no idea. They were really in the heart of downtown and the metro was pretty far away. By the time they reached it, it'd be closed for the night. Bus fares were expensive. So were hotels, even the cheap motels along the residential area. _Downtown residential area!_ Misaki had an idea.

"This way, Suzuna." she guided.

* * *

Takumi was sleeping. It had been a long day. The floor suddenly seemed comfy, so he was on the ground beside the kitchen. His wonderful silence was disturbed by someone knocking on his door. He goaned and turned over, covering his ears with his hands. The knocking just got louder. He opened his eyes, sighing. _Okay, where are my glasses?_ Takumi shoved his glasses on and opened the door. There in front of him was Misaki and her little sister.

"Yo Pres, waz' up?" he asked. "Isn't it kinda late for a home visit?"

Instead of answering, MIsaki turned to Suzuna. "Wait here a sec." she said before dragging Takumi into the apartment and closing the door lightly behind her.

"I'm sorry, but we can't get home tonight." she started gulping nervously.

Okay, now he was curious. "So..." it took him a moment before a lightbulb went off in his head. "Wait, don't tell me you want to..."

"Please." she cut him off. "Just let us stay here tonight. We can't get home and I don't know anywhere else to go."

He was about to ask her why, when he noticed the bags under her eyes and exhausted note in her voice.

"Alright." he agreed. "But just tonight."

He watched as her shoulders lumped in relief. He ran to clean up as Misaki fetched an awed Suzuna from outside.

"You guys can take the couch. I got the floor in the kitchen."

Suzuna and Misaki took up the space of the sofa pretty easily. Suzuna was out as soon as her head hit the couch. But not Misaki. She was wide awake. It was all finally starting to hit her. She slid off the couch and slumped behind it, leaning her dead weight against the hollow upholstery. She sat knees to her chest, face in arms and let out all of her pent up emotion. She wept like a child. She almost didn't notice Takumi plop down silently next to her, but it didn't matter, he couldn't see her face. _What happened to you, Pres_. He thought worriedly. He just sat there, staring at the high, dark ceiling while she, not even a meter away, bawled her eyes out.

It was probably the worst Friday ever.


	5. Evil Couch?

**Sorry about the delayed update! Here it is;**

* * *

When Suzuna awoke, it was oddly quiet. The curtains were all drawn in, only a crack of sunshine streamed down the middle. She silently pulled off the blanket and stepped onto the cold floor. The apartment was pretty empty. Two hollow rooms behind the couch, a bathroom in-between and a small kitchen with a fridge, fold up table and two chairs. Not much place to hide. Suzuna rounded the couch to get a better look at the place and smiled deviously at what she saw leaning against the back of it. She knew it.

Misaki was sleeping, knees to her chest, arms crossed over them. Her head was leaning on Takumi's shoulder. Takumi had his right arm around her shoulders and was leaning his head on hers. His glasses were hanging off of his face awkwardly, legs half bent in front of him. Misaki's eyes were slightly red-rimmed and swollen, hair tousled while his eyes were simply lined with purple bags from not sleeping. _Ooh!_ Suzuna thought, emotionless mask back in place. _Blackmail!_ She rushed over and snatched her cell phone from her bag. She snapped a couple photos of them before Takumi groaned in awakening.

Suzuna practically jumped back onto the couch and threw the blanket over her body and face. She closed her phone and hid it in her sweater pocket and slowed her breathing. Takumi didn't seem to notice. As he opened his eyes, he noticed Misaki's head on his shoulder, then his hanging glasses, which he fixed. He removed his arm from around Misaki and he laid her down in a sleeping position. He went to get his pillow from the kitchen and placed her head on it. Once done, he yawned and padded back over to the kitchen. It was around 8:30am. Takumi had a gentle smile plastered on his face. He didn't know why he couldn't get rid of it, but he was just...happy. He searched his modest fridge for something to make. He fished out a couple eggs, and milk. Suddenly getting an idea, he went around to the cupboard and grabbed the bag of flour and a few other things. He grabbed a large bowl and whipped some batter with a whisk. Once done, he covered the bowl in plastic wrapping, where it would have to sit for 10 minutes.

By the time he'd reemerged from the kitchen, Suzuna was on her knees and leaning over the back of the couch, trying to cover Misaki with the blanket. In her concentration, Suzuna didn't notice Takumi come until he'd actually grabbed on to the flapping ends of the blanket.

"I'll do it." he offered, whispering.

Suzuna watched curiously as he knelt by Misaki, tucking her in as best as he could, considering she was on the floor. Takumi smiled and brushed some hair from her face. Suzuna cocked her head in surprise.

"Ne, Usui-san, you like my sister don't you." she stated.

Her voice snapped Takumi out of his reverie and he stood up slowly.

"You should go get ready." he said, avoiding the previous question. "Breakfast will be ready in about 20 minutes." With that last statement, Takumi stalked nervously back to the kitchen. And though it hadn't shown on his face in front of Suzuna, once he was out of sight, he leaned against the wall, pushing back his hair in front with his fingers, palm stopping at his forehead. He was blushing.

* * *

When Misaki awoke, she smelt pancakes. She turned over under the blankets. _Did I fall asleep in the living room again?_ she thought shivering at the cold wood.

"How do you do that!?" she heard Suzuna exclaim, "These are amazing."

"Glad you like them."

That got her to snap up into a sitting position, ripping off the blanket from over her head. That wasn't her mother's voice, that was Takumi's. She looked around, recalling what had happened the day before and flopped back down, head missing the pillow, causing her to whack into the floor with a loud 'whap'.

"Oww" Misaki groaned rubbing her head.

"What happened?" Suzuna asked coming out of the kitchen, Takumi following spoon in hand.

He placed his spoon back on the table and went to squat by the pain inflicted teenager.

"You're an idiot, Pres." he mocked lightly.

"Shut up, Usui." she retorted rubbing her head in pain.

Usui cupped his hands around his hands as if prepared to yell and continued to repeat the 'offensive' word, "idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot..."

"I get the point." She yelled in his face. When she noticed how close she had become, she blushed and threw herself back only to whack her head into the frame of the couch.

"Oww" she grumbled again. She could feel the breath of his sigh as Takumi moved in to examine the growing bumps on her head.

"I'll get some ice." he said, standing up.

When she looked up at him, he had removed his glasses, but was looking at her with a fairly amused look. Upon returning to the kitchen, he found Suzuna serving the pancakes onto plates, with syrup. He glanced at her work as he opened the fridge.

"Hey, you're pretty good at that." he complimented, taking out an ice cube tray. He was pretty sure he heard a murmured 'thanks', but when he looked, it seemed as if the girl hadn't moved an inch. _She weird, just like her sister._ Takumi scoffed mentally.

Takumi dumped the large cubes of ice into two layers of paper towels, tying the loose end with an extra elastic he found lying around. What he didn't notice was that as soon as he left the kitchen, Suzuna was there behind him, Spying from the kitchen door.

"Pres," he sighed squatting down in front of the girl again, "You really are an idiot."

Misaki frowned, "Do you really have to keep sayi- Ah! COLD!" she protested as Takumi pressed the ball of ice to her brow. Everytime he tried to bring the ice near her, she would duck away. It was Takumi's turn to frown.

"Would you just hold still!" he commanded, grabbing her head securly with his right hand. He had to hold her still as he applied the ice once more to her head. "Geez Ayuzawa, give me a break!" he sighed.

When Misaki finally looked him in the face, his eyes were staring right back at her. They were bright green, and seemed to glow in the dark of the shaded apartment. They were weary and worried, expressing the emotions he's held onto since the previous night. As soon as she noticed, she immediately dropped her gaze and sighed. It was going to be a long week.

* * *

**I know how much some people hate this but still…**

**I quick thank you to;**

**Xythri**

**jeune rye**

**darkwriter14**

**GokuderaKyuki**

**xMicki**

**Misaki-chan Spy**

**ylle2000**

**Cactus2008, LittleDrunkNinjy and minamicchi (whoever you guys are!)**

**.NiNJy**

**Shahar Mystral  
**

**Johonna Marie**

…**for reviewing my first story. It means a lot to me! :)**


	6. Monday

**Sorry about the late update (please don't be mad TT_TT)**

Getting up on Monday was hard. Misaki didn't want to go to school, She didn't want to face him. It scared her, the way he'd looked at her when they left his place.

_ Misaki was about to leave the apartment when Takumi grabbed her arm. She looked back nervously._

"_Pres," he'd started. His expression was unexpectedly unguarded, revealing his worried face. "you are going to tell me what's wrong, right?"_

_ She hadn't responded. Only blushed solemnly as she pulled her arm from his comforting grip to follow Suzuna to the elevators._

Misaki didn't know why, but it just didn't seem right. Though reluctant, She was on the train 30 minutes early, which in turn just pissed her off. It seems that all her morning habits had become involuntary actions that occurred while she was thinking of why she didn't want to get up. She sighed. _Great._ _Now I have another 30 minutes to do paperwork. Oh well, maybe that'll give me some time to visit Mom in the hospital today._ Upon entering the school, the lights were off. _Of course,_ Misaki scoffed,_ it's 6:30 in the morning._ She didn't even bother turning on the lights as she made her way through the school grounds. Sometimes she didn't know why she even bothered showing up before the teachers or ever wondered why the school was never locked up during the weekends.

Sighing, Misaki flicked on the lights of the council room. As she she squinted, eyes adjusting to the bright light, she jumped back out of the room with a short yelp. She tip-toed her way back in, switching off the lights this time. She sighed loudly and slumped down to the floor, leaning on the door frame. Why did he always show up at the most random times and places? Yes, there, asleep in the president's chair was Takumi...at 6:30am Monday morning. It seemed that she hadn't woken him up. He was really out of it, head bowed, lightly snoring. Even in sleep, his emotionless mask remained in place. Misaki didn't understand why he only scared her out of her wits. Surely he had other ways of entertaining himself. _Geez, can't get a break._ Misaki sighed, making her way over to the deak. _Maybe I should wa..._ she cut that thought short. As she leaned in to wake him up, she just couldn't do it. He looked so peaceful. What really made her brow crinkle though, were the bags under his eyes. When he was awake, they weren't very noticeable, but Misaki could tell that they had gotten darker and more prominent than when she'd seen him on Friday.

She leaned back from the desk and grabbed the stack of paperwork. She took it over to one of the empty unused desks at the other side of the room and silently returned to get the stamp and pen from her drawer. As she leaned towards the drawer, Misaki could hear the change in Takumi's steady breathing. She took a moment and listened for any audiable words, but all she heard was mumbling. Without a second thought, Misaki took what she needed and returned to her seat.

It didn't take her long to finish the work with her 'demon speed', but once done, Misaki was...bored. She leaned down on the table to reast her stinging eyes momentarily and was asleep within moments. When she awoke, the council room was bright and sunny. Misaki squinted through the whiteness and noticed that Takumi was still sleeping. Yawning, she checked the clock. It was just about time for class. She walked over to the occupied desk and instead of waking him up, Misaki scribbled a quick note on a rejected idea form and stuffed it in his shirt pocket. She should have been glad that there weren't any Council meetings that day. Misaki took one last glance at Takumi before shutting the council door behind her.

* * *

When school was dismissed at the end of the day, Misaki was surprised to see Takumi waiting for her at the gates. As she walked up to him, he pulled out the sheet she'd written on that morning. She stopped in front of him. She was a little pissed that he was just standing there. He waved the paper at her before reciting what was written;

"'I'll tell the teachers that you're sick. Go home and sleep idiot Usui.'" he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What was this for?" he asked.

Misaki shrugged. "You were tired. Why else would you be sleeping in the council room at 6:30 in the morning, baka." Misaki gave a quick look over. "And by the looks of it, you actually followed my advice."

The two of them casually set off in the direction of the café. Once they hit the downtown area, Misaki turned in a different direction.

"My shift doesn't start yet. I've somewhere else to be. See you later." with the turn of the green light, Misaki set off, sparing a glance and a wave for Takumi.

_That's odd, _Takumi thought, brow crinkling. _Even if she's early for work she usually sits in the back and studies like there's no tomorrow._

* * *

The latex gloves were itchy, but Misaki tried her best to ignore it. She picked up the phone on the wall and it immediately started ringing. Through the glass, Misaki saw her mom try to reach for the phone, but couldn't. There were so many IVs in her arms that she couldn't move them. The nurse who was preparing the fresh IVs saw the problem and pressed the 'speaker' button. Minako looked out the window with a light smile on her face.

"Hi Mom." Misaki greeted through the receiver.

"_Misaki! Don't you have a student council meeting or work!" _Minako asked worriedly.

"It's okay, Mom." Misaki assured, "No council meetings on Monday and I've got another hour or two until work starts."

"_But don't you usually study during this time?"_ Minako asked suspiciously.

Misaki smiled tiredly. "Yeah, but seeing you is more important." she answered truthfully.

Minako let out a long sigh._ "Well, the cord is long enough. Go sit on the chair and study a bit while we talk. I know how much effort you put into your grades."_ she commanded.

Misaki let out a weak laugh and saluted lazily, "Yes, Ma'am."

Misaki chatted with her mom for a while until the doctor came. Misaki apologized and hung up the phone, leaving her mother staring at her in amused curiosity.

"Dr Miura." she greeted the older man.

"Ahh, Ayuzawa-chan," he smiled. "visiting today I see."

"Yes." she replied politely.

The man instantly turned serious. "Ayuzawa-chan, you're mother is in a relatively stable condition. Have you considered having the surgery done? Looking at her how stable vitals, now would be the time to do it." he explained.

Misaki sighed. "Dr Miura. I would very much like to have my mother go through the surgery, but my family has no money. I don't know if we can even pay for the current hospital bill, we can't afford insurance, let alone surgery."

Dr Miura, gave her a look of understanding and took a moment to ponder the situation. "I greatly encourage you to accept surgery, but I also understand that your family lacks money." he began. "I can lower the surgery fee by only about 100000 yen in exchange for two months of community service in our emergency ward and clinic." he said.

Misaki got an idea. "Wait...if I did 20 months of community service here at the hospital, that would cover the cost of the surgery, right."

Dr Miura wasn't liking the enlightened look in her eyes. "Yes," he replied nervously. "But it's from 7pm to 10pm, Fridays to Mondays, every week. And that would be for two years straight, if you exclude holidays. Are you sure you would like to do this?"

"If I do it too, the time would be cut in half, right?"

Misaki and Dr Miura both turned to see Suzuna standing there.

"Well? No one has yet to answer my question." Suzuna saw the disapproving look on Misaki's face and intervened. "I _will_ do it too, Sis. You already have a part-time job. You don't need to be doing anymore that you already are."

"Yes, if both of you do it, it would only be for 10 months." Dr Miura sighed, agreeing.

"Okay then," Misaki (sighing) and Suzuna (determined) declared, "sign us up."


	7. Blue Scrubs

The uniform wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. They were dark blue scrubs. The pants were a bit long, but Misaki couldn't complain. The women sizes were all too small, so they'd given her the men's size closest to hers. Her sleeves were also rolled up quite a bit, but all in all, in was more comfortable than the maid outfit. Sighing, Misaki quickly pulled her hair into a ponytail and ran out to greet her 'boss'.

The hospital clinic had a eerily calm aura to it and it smelled like anesthetic everywhere. Misaki asked the woman at the desk where volunteers were supposed to meet and got a terrified look in response. Misaki sighed. She'd heard the rumors. Apparently, the first time she came to the hospital, she knocked over a schizophrenic patient in the hallway. The patient was ranting about the devil coming to kill her for days after that and now everyone thought she was...well...evil. The nurse was speaking so softly that Misaki had to lean in to hear her. 'Room 1' of the clinic wasn't empty. 2 other people, waited in there.

There was a young girl with long orange hair, lying on the examination table, back to the door. Misaki could only assume she was sleeping. She was probably shorter than Misaki because she was wearing the woman's pink scrubs. There was a man who looked only a little older than Misaki, messing with a stethoscope. He was rather tall and had really tanned skin. He had short black hair and several piercings on each ear, some on his eyebrows too. Misaki shuffled silently inside and leaned against the examination table, waiting for the doctor to come in and tell them what to do.

They didn't have to wait very long. When the doctor came in, Misaki was surprised. She had been expecting someone around Dr Miura's age, but this woman only looked around 20. She had thin black-rimmed glasses and was extremely tall for a Japanese woman. She had light brown hair that was swept up into a high ponytail and a scowl that could only be perceived as annoyance.

"Okay ladies," she began sarcastically, "lets get to work."

* * *

Misaki practically dragged herself to school the next Monday morning. Her eyes were shadowed, though she managed to cover it up a bit by washing her face. She was relieved that she didn't have any council work or part-time job that day, but just walking into the hospital was tiring. As soon as Misaki set foot on Seika High's grounds, her 'demon-mode' kicked in and she just whizzed through to the classroom. She made it in time for homeroom and plopped herself down in her seat. Little did she know, Takumi was watching her intently.

_Today_, he thought, _I'll find what's up with her._ Takumi observed her throughout the day. She seemed weary, but her attention was focused only on work. He found that she took a detour at lunch and went to sleep up on the roof. _That's unusual_. He silently opened the roof door and was hit with a hard gust of wind. The sound of rustling cloth caused Misaki to snap up and she was suddenly awake.

"Who's there?" came Misaki's irritated voice.

"Chill." he called out, climbing the ladder up to the higher platform. "It's just me."

Once he'd reached the platform, Takumi lay down and stretched out across the cement like a cat on a carpet. As his eyes drooped closed, he watched as Misaki's shadow washed over him. He snapped them open just in time to see her bend over, hand on hips.

"What are you doing here, Usui?" she asked irritated.

Not at all swayed by her threatening tone, Takumi sunk his eyes closed. "Sleeping." he replied simply. "What does it look like I'm doing? Dancing?"

After waiting a couple minutes with his eyes closed, he was surprised that he was not greeted with a kick or a horribly formed threat. Opening his eyes, he found Misaki sleeping on the other end of the small square platform, back towards him. He sat up, but instead of his usual smirk, Takumi could feel an amused smile pulling on his lips as he watched her sleeping form. She really was out of it. He could only imagine what she would have done to him had she not been so tired. He silently walked over and sat by her side. Peeking over her narrow frame, Takumi found that she really was sleeping. As he watched her breathe in and out silently, he slipped out of his blazer and draped it over her. Then he slowly got up and climbed back down the ladder. As he closed the roof door behind him, only one wish made itself clear to him.

"Get well soon, Pres."

* * *

When class was dismissed, Misaki was still yawning. Before heading to the locker-room, she caught Yukimura and Kanou in the council room and reminded them to finish up the preparations for the Open House by Thursday. Sluggishly, Misaki made her way to the locker-room and grabbed her coat and outdoor shoes. It was only then that she noticed she was wearing two blazers. She slipped off the outer one and checked for a nametag. "Usui T." Was written behind the wrist of a sleeve. Sighing in annoyance, Misaki shoved the blazer into her bookbag and slipped on her coat.

Streching as she exited the building, Misaki slapped both of her cheeks to wake herself up and dragged herself off the school grounds. There was a mild fog that had built up since that morning, and as soon as Misaki walked down into the metro station, she found it hard to breathe. She gulped down the meagre amount of oxygen and stepped into the metro car. Little did she know Takumi was watching her.

He'd been following her since she left the school. Usually she'd have noticed him already, but she was so exhausted she didn't notice. As the car got more and more packed, she found herself nearly gasping for air. Slowly, her eyelids drooped and her limbs suddenly felt heavy. In a flash she passed out. Takumi barely managed to catch her. It took a moment to notice something hanging from her bookbag. It seemed that the jolt of her fall caused it to slip out. It was a blue sleeve with the ends rolled up. _Nurse's scrubs._


	8. Teenagers

Misaki awoke to the smell of fruit. Her head was throbbing and she felt sore all over. With much effort, Misaki lifted her right hand to her sweating forehead. Silently, the blanket fell from its awkward position on her lap as she turned over to her left side. The comforting softness of the couch she was lying on was calling her back to dreamland. Then, her eyes snapped open. _Couch?_ In a split second she was sitting up, trying to shake off the dizziness. Suddenly, two hands came to hold her shoulders firmly, pushing her to lie back down. Letting herself get pushed back down, a cold damp towel came to sit on her forehead. The next thing she heard was a wham of someone sinking to the floorboards. Turning her head, she saw a nearly furious Takumi glaring at her from his position leaning against the table. She coughed and opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

"You," he stated simply, "are an idiot."

"Wha..." she reacted.

"I leave for less than a minute to change your towel and you're already trying to kill yourself." he continued, ignoring her protest.

"I am not trying..." she tried again.

"You do realize this is the second time I've caught you with a fever in the past 2 weeks, _Pres_?" he mocked.

She coughed again, finally clearing her throat. "Wha...what does that have to do with you, anyways?" then, as if finally taking in her surroundings, Misaki realized something. "Usui," she started slowly, "What am I doing here? In your apartment?"

He gave her a grim smirk. "I've been stalking you."

"Aha!" She pointed her finger at him violently and stood abruptly, towel falling from her face. "So you admit you've been following me!"

She took a step forward...and tripped on the towel. Being wet, it glided smoothly on the wood floors, leaving an unbalanced Misaki to fall forward.

"Baka!" Takumi called reaching forward.

Takumi jumped up to catch her, only to be thrown back down by her dead weight. He looked to the side and almost paled. They'd barely missed hitting the sharp table corners. _Geez._ he thought. Turning his attention back to the sick girl lying on top of him, Takumi bent his head against gravity. Misaki was leaning onto him, one hand clutching his shirt, the other on her heart. Her head was leaning right above his left shoulder. He could really feel her taking in deep, shaky breaths. The impact of the fall had really jostled her and she was now having a hard time breathing. Acting on impulse, Takumi wrapped his arms around Misaki and slowly sat up. He adjusted her in his lap so that her legs were off to one side and began soothingly rubbing her back. When it no longer seemed like she was gasping for air, Takumi leaned down so that he was eye-level with Misaki.

"You okay?" he asked cautiously, taking her face delicately in his hands.

"Ge.." she wheezed.

"huh?" Takumi asked. "I can't hear you, Pres."

Misaki took in several deep breaths before trying again.

"Ge...get away...away from...me...PERVERT!" she glared at him through glassy eyes.

She tried to push him away, but her arms were heavy. In response, all she got was mild laughter. Leaning against him, she could feel his laughter bubbling up in his chest and it made her shiver.

"Really, Pres, you gotta take better care of yourself." Takumi mocked, his tone light.

Gently, Takumi lifted her back onto the couch and went back to the kitchen. Misaki waited a few minutes, trying to see past the wall blocking her view of the kitchen. She was about to fall asleep when he returned, a bowl in hand. He set the bowl on the table and helped Misaki sit up. He had to sit beside her otherwise she'd have fallen back down. He lifted the bowl, revealing to her first the metal fork before assaulting her eyes with an array of colourful fruits. She gulped nervously as Takumi stabbed what looked like a piece of cantaloupe, a mango and an apple and held it to her mouth. She looked at him curiously. He only stared her down and pressed it further against her closed lips.

Unwillingly, Misaki ate the fruit. It continued like this until the while bowl was finished. In the time it took Takumi to walk to the kitchen, was the bowl and walk back to the couch, Misaki was lying down, trying to stay awake. She groaned in frustration.

"I feel like a flimsy pancake." she complained.

"Well," Takumi agreed, lifting her onto his lap so he could sit down, "you most definitely weigh the same as one."

He watched her yawn and lean against him, as at the moment there was no other place to lean. Smiling slightly, he pushed back hair and planted a kiss right to her temple. In less time than it took for him to blink, Misaki's eyes shot open and her face went bright red, a contrast to the whiteness the fever gave her. He could practically see the fumes of embarrassment steaming from her ears.

"Relax, Pres." Takumi grinned, "Its just the two of us here."

Misaki shot him a dirty look. "Try anything, Pervert and..."

"...I know." he finished her incomplete threat. Then to Misaki's horror, Takumi leaned in closer. "But right now, you're threats are useless, _Misa-chan_."

Before Misaki could open her mouth to protest, Takumi's face was level with hers. His green eyes glowed as they stared through hers. No matter how hard she tried, Misaki couldn't tear her eyes away from his penetrating gaze. She could feel his hands come to rest on her cheeks, but she made no move to object. The next thing she knew, his lips were on hers. It was a chaste kiss and it only lasted a second, but it practically turned Misaki into a stone. She had no idea how to react. When he pulled away, she could see it in his eyes. He looked rejected. He moved to try and get up, but Misaki's almost non-existent weight held him down. That and the fact that she wouldn't let go of his shirt. Takumi gently tried to pry her hands from his shirt.

"Pres, could you let go?" He asked as nicely as he could, but his mood was starting to turn sour. At his request, Misaki's weak grip only tightened. He tried looking at her, but her head was cast down, hair falling in front of her face. "Ayuzawa?" he whispered.

Misaki couldn't think straight. Should she or should she not? She didn't know what she was supposed to do. But no matter which scenarios she tried playing her head, only one seemed right. It was the only one, because her heart already knew what she wanted. _Damn it._ She cursed mentally. She took a deep breath and did an uncertain countdown in her head. She was too nervous to lift her head.

"Ne, Usui?" she spoke.

"Hmm?" he responded, curious.

Not letting herself have time to doubt what she was about to do, Misaki whipped her head upwards and mashed her lips to his. Takumi was taken by complete surprise, but he didn't resist. He wrapped his arms around her waist, as if never to let go an pulled her to him. Both were too scared to move and only separated when Misaki began turning a bit blue. Takumi pulled her to him. He didn't want to let her see the embarrassed smile spreading across his face.

"Hey," he whispered into her ear. "You better not forget this, this time."

He leaned back a bit to give her a smile and in return received a shaky smile from Misaki. "I won't." she whispered, cheeks red.


	9. Work, Work, Work

Takumi sat up on the roof as usual, letting the afternoon breeze blow past his back. He listened quietly to the sounds of the second bell ringing, warning everybody to leave the premises soon followed by the sound of students bursting through the doors, chattering. Takumi held back a laugh an flopped back, onto the cement and closed his eyes. Whenever he thought back to what happened Monday night, his face would light up in an amused grin. Though Misaki hadn't actually said that she liked him, she'd responded to his feelings. She'd kissed him. He could still remember how surprised he was when she forcefully pressed her lips to his. The happiness he felt from that one action had caused him to blush so hard his face was red long after she went home. But what really made him happy, was that she said she wouldn't forget what happened. She would remember. Takumi stared at the sky with a solemn smile. _I wonder just how long this happiness will last?_

_

* * *

_

Misaki ran back and forth between the nurses' station in the clinic, patients' rooms and the cafeteria kitchen. Dinner at the hospital was annoying. First she was asked to review files at the nurses's station. It was going fine until one of the nurses fell down the stairs. Misaki had barely managed to catch the tray she was holding. She got the nurse to a chair at the station and propped her foot on one of the desks with a bag of ice. Then she took over the job of serving dinner to patients she was caring for. Some were on the fifth floor, some on the first, some that just came out of surgery on the basement floor, some in the childrens' ward and so on. Just when she thought she was done and would get to sit down and finish reviewing files, she was called to one of the patients' rooms. It was either they were finished eating or they didn't have utensils or they wanted ketchup or salad dressing or they just wanted to complain or something else.

Misaki finally plopped down at the nurses's station and opened the file she was reading more than an hour ago. She was dripping in sweat, the fever from four days ago was not quite out of her system. She took in deep breaths, calming herself enough to focus. The nurse with the sprained ankle turned her head to her.

"You know, maybe you should take a break. Go down to the cafeteria and eat something or take a nap in one of the examination rooms." she told Misaki.

"No, Its alrigh-" Misaki stopped halfway, suddenly remembering Takumi's words.

_"Really, Pres, you gotta take better care of yourself."_

"On the other hand," she said, wiping sweat from her forehead, "maybe I will."

Slowly, Misaki stood up and headed to the third examination room and locked the door behind her. Calmly, she eased herself onto the examination table and let her muscles relax, feeling the tension in her body unwind. She breathed in a deep breath and stretched, popping her locked joints. Then she slowly turned over to her left side (back to the door) and closed her eyes. She slowly let her thoughts wander. She thought about her mom. If she and Suzuna kept working at this pace for another month, she'd be able to get her surgery. She sighed, the manager was starting to question whether or not she could handle such a schedule while keeping up her grades. Her mind turned to Suzuna, how she effortlessly offered to help even though she was having trouble in school with her grades. Suzuna had bought Misaki an agenda and wrote out her schedule every week. Working around school hours, she posted sales happening around the café and hospital that they could take advantage of, what days she worked what days she didn't, when she would have time to study, her budget for the week, etc... Misaki really didn't know what she would do without her sister.

Inevitably, Misaki's thoughts focused on Takumi. Her mind turned through the memories of times he'd helped her. First keeping her job a secret then jumping off the school roof to save her reputation. He'd helped her settle the Miyabigaoka incident. When she bruised her arm saving a student from a falling ladder. When Kanou tried to hypnotize her, he kept her awake and even though it was forced upon him, he saved the sports' teams during the Open House. During the beach trip, he saved her from hitting the metal pole holding up the vollyball net. When she fell during the Footman auditions, he took her place and cushioned her fall. He saved her from Kuuga when they first met and during the student council elections. In the past year and a half that they knew each other, he'd saved her more times than she could count.

Slowly her mind turned to the small intimate moments they'd had together. First when he confessed to her on the roof...before he jumped off that is. Then when they were at the beach and when they went to the Yumesaki Festival. The time they spent in the alley on Magic*Latte Day. The time she spent with him after the Footman auditions when they were waiting for the ambulance. The time in the forest during the second years' trip. Their date the day of her birthday. In the council room before the elections and the time in his apartment when she kis...

Misaki shot straight up. Resisting the urge to bash her head into a wall, she leaned it between her knees. Why was it that he took up all her thoughts. It didn't matter what she was thinking, in the end Takumi would always invade her mind. How many times had he confessed to her and still he called her 'Ayuzawa' or 'Pres'. And when he called her as 'Misa-chan' it had always been in a mocking tone. After shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts, Misaki gave in, letting in one emotion she had been purposely denying. Misaki gave a heavy sigh. _Just how much do I lo-LIKE that idiot?_

She lay back down and stared at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity when a knock came at the door. Springing from the table Misaki opened the door to reveal Suzuna in her pink scrubs.

"Onee-chan..." Suzuna gave her a pitiful look as she looked Misaki over. "Go home, its my turn. I'll catch the midnight train home."

"You sure Suzuna? I can work for another hour or t-"

"No!" Suzuna pushed Misaki out of the room and started pushing her towards the changing rooms. "Onee-chan, you have to go home. You haven't rested properly. You know, Usui-kun takes care of you every time you get sick."

"Eh?!? Wait!" Misaki stopped in her tracks and turned to face Suzuna. "What do you mean 'every time'?"

"You didn't know? When you passed out at Maid*Latte, he brought you home and nursed you through your nightmares for almost the whole night! I stayed up as long as I could, but he was gone by the morning." she explained.

Suddenly, Takumi's words came at her.

_"Is Ayuzawa an idiot!?"_

_"Did you really forget what happened yesterday?"_

The expression he'd had on his face the next day, that solemn smile, remembering it made her heart ache. She was suddenly reminded of his desperate expression the day she and Suzuna stayed over. Misaki froze.

"Su, Suzuna?" she started, her gears winding.

"Yes, Onee-chan?" she responded. There was a hint of already knowing what was going on in her response.

"I...I have to be somewhere, okay? I might be home late, so be careful on your way back." with that, Misaki shot off towards the changing rooms like a bullet. She grabbed her clothes, changed, and with the speed of a demon, she ran out of the hospital.

Misaki knew her destination. She knew where she had to go, what she had to say. But that was only if he was still there.


	10. Please Tell Me

Misaki fled down the dark streets. In her panic she'd forgotten the metro existed and was running down the sidewalk. Her breath was shaky as tears of frustration began to course down her face. _Faster._ She thought impatiently, pumping her legs to push harder. _I have to go faster._ A thought popped into her head as she reached her destination and Misaki skidded to a stop in front of the apartment building. The tears were still flowing aimlessly down a trail on her face. _What am I doing?_ She scolded herself, bringing her hand to cover her painful sobs. She was so overcome by emotion, she didn't know what was wrong with her. At the hospital, she'd gotten a really bad feeling and she just...acted on impulse. No matter what, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Calming her breathing, she hastily wiped the wetness from her cheeks and sprinted into the building.

Too impatient to wait for the elevator, Misaki ran up the five flights of stairs, entering the sixth floor from the emergency stairway. She ran blindly through the large hallway towards the familiar apartment door at the end. Not remembering that he had a doorbell, she began pounding on his door. _Please, be home!_ she prayed silently. Within seconds, Misaki heard the sound of someone undoing the latch from inside, and held her breath. The door swung open to reveal Takumi. He looked like he just got out of the shower. He stood there in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that looked slightly wet around the collar. He had a small towel hanging around his neck and his hair was still damp. He looked extremely surprised to see her. Misaki couldn't take it anymore. The relief that he was still there, it spread through her body like a warmth she never knew before. She could feel her knees buckle under her as Takumi leaned forward to catch her.

"Hey Pres, you okay?" he asked. He held her to him, the arms around her waist her only support.

She looked at him helplessly, nodding slowly as an embarrassed smile formed on her face. Upon looking at her, Takumi frowned slightly. He lifted his right arm from her waist and could immediately feel her falling from his grip. Takumi quickly closed the door behind Misaki, doing up the latch before carrying her inside and setting her on the couch. Misaki kept her head bowed, face covered by her hands, refusing to look at him. So he knelt on the floor in front of her and pried her hands from her face.

"Pres?" He inquired softly, trying to catch her eyes with his. He noticed for the second time, the faint but definitely wet gleam in the corners of her eyes. "Ayuzawa," his tone a bit more stern and concerned, "have you been crying?"

Misaki still didn't answer. As soon as she saw him, her resolve faded. She no longer knew what she was going to do, what she was going to say. Silently, Takumi got up and sat down on her right side. Gently, he bent down and took Misaki's face in his hands, brushing away what was left of her tears with soothing strokes of his thumbs. The look in his eyes was curious, but gentle and sympathetic. Cautiously, as not to scare her, Takumi pressed his forehead to hers. Misaki closed her eyes. She could feel it. The warmth of his hands of his forehead pressed against hers. She could feel the comfortable and carefree atmosphere that could only surround him. She took in his smell. He smelled like a waterfall and she could feel his minty breath against her nose. He was there. He was still there. The tears began again, stalking slowly down her cheeks.

Takumi could feel the sticky wetness dripping against the palms of his hands and he slowly opened his eyes. Once again he began to wipe them away. He looked at her worriedly.

"Misaki..." he began. And that was all it took. Misaki burst out in tears.

Abruptly broken out of her stupor and overwhelmed by emotion, she sobbed her eyes out. She could feel Takumi pull her into a tight embrace, her face pressed against his chest. She clung to him like a child. His shirt was fisted tightly in both her hands. Takumi's arms held her protectively. His right hand rubbed up and down her back in a soothing motion, the other caressing her hair and Misaki made no move to stop him. With her head tucked into his chest, Takumi leaned down and buried his face in her hair. Just seeing the strong Ayuzawa Misaki he loved crying like this, made him want to cry as well. He was pressed so tightly to her that Takumi's body shook with each and every one of her sobs.

"Misaki?" he tried again. But still he received no response.

He raised his head slightly and lightly kissed her right temple. "Please, Misaki," he whispered to her, "tell me. What happened?" Slowly, his left hand slid down to remove her hands from his shirt before tenderly cupping her face in his hands. He forced her to look at him, but she wouldn't open her eyes. She could feel him, but she was afraid that if she opened her eyes, he would disappear. Misaki's hand came to cover his, to make sure he was still there. The feeling of his hands under hers was her only reassurance as she opened her eyes. At first it was only a little bit, but slowly, she opened them, all the while tears still trailing down her face.

"What happened? What's wrong?" his plead ate away at her heart.

Misaki forced down the rest of the tears that were trying to force their way out. "I..." she started, voice shaking. "I...I thought you'd left." she finished casting her eyes downward to avoid his gaze. She suddenly felt weary and tired.

Glancing up nervously, she saw the surprised look in his eyes. Taking advantage of his surprise, Misaki ripped away from him as if he'd burned her and stood up. Hastily, she wiped away any stray tears and walked towards to the door.

"I'm sorry." she apologized wryly, "I...I depend on Usui too much."

She undid the latch and was about to turn the knob when she felt his right hand grab her wrist. She froze. Misaki didn't want to look at him. She didn't want to face him. She couldn't anymore. Quickly reaching out instead with her left hand, he captured that hand too. He pulled her to him from behind.

"What did you say?" he asked. His voice seemed a bit far away, as if he heard something he couldn't believe.

"I said," Misaki took a deep breath, "that I depend on you too much."

"No. Not that." She could feel the movement of air from him shaking his head. "Before that. What did you say before that."

Misaki's urge to get away from him, though strong, faltered and her tense muscles all failed at the same time. Her body shook and she swayed, her balance unstable.

"I..." she tried. "I...I..." She continued to stutter, somehow unable to continue her sentence. Misaki gulped down the lump in her throat. She opened her mouth and spoke slowly. "I said 'I thought you had left.'"

"You..." Takumi spoke softly. He wrapped his hands around her waist, lifted her off the slippery wood floor and tossed her over his shoulder. In response, Misaki screamed.

"AIIIIIIII! PUT ME DOWN YOU PERVERT. PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! YOU...YOU...PERVERTED OUTER-SPACE ALIEN! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Annoyed, Takumi dropped her on the couch and glared. "Will you shut up!" Misaki immediately went silent. He had never used that sort of tone of voice with her. She suddenly felt like a mouse in an open cage and the entrance was blocked by a ferocious cat. This was not a good situation. Quickly regaining her composure, Misaki said a quick "I'm leaving." and made a beeline for the door only to be carried right back and dumped in the same spot on the couch. After more than five tries at escaping, Misaki finally gave in and sunk against the couch. She looked up, annoyed, at Takumi who stood above her, arms crossed, a triumphant smirk adorning his face.

"Finally give up?" he mocked.

She too crossed her arms and averted her gaze, annoyed and embarrassed. "Yeah." she muttered. Takumi plopped down beside her and suddenly, the tensely awkward atmosphere from before was back. It was as if she never got up. Misaki cautiously turned her head to face him. Takumi was sitting down with his head in the palm of his right hand, staring forward. They stayed like that for a few seconds, suspended in time. Then Takumi spoke.

"Why?" he asked.

"Eh?" Misaki replied surprised.

"Why?" he repeated, finally turning to look at her.

"Why?" she repeated. "Why what?"

"Why did you think I was gone?" he asked.

He could visibly see Misaki tense up. Once again, she began shaking. Takumi was tempted not to pry much farther, but his curiosity was overpowering.

"Why did you think I was gone?" he asked again. This time, he placed his hands on Misaki's forearms and pulled her closer to him. The closer she was to him, the more he could resist wanting to hold her, to comfort her. He watched silently as her lips parted, prepared to speak.

"I...got a bad feeling." she answered simply. She refused to look him in the eyes, even now. "I...I don't know what it was. I was at the hospital as usual, doing whatnot, then Suzuna started urging me to go home and something just...just came over me. The next thing I knew, I was heading here, with no intention of stopping."

Her gaze shyly flickered upward to glance at his face. She could see his face contorted in a worried frown. What was wrong? Had she said something wrong?

"The hospital?" he repeated.

Realizing what she had said, Misaki's eyes widened in panic an she brought her hands to her mouth to block her inaudible gasp. She had to get out of here. She knew that if he asked, she would tell. She could never lie to him. But as she was getting up, Takumi's hands grasped her hips firmly and pushed her back onto the couch. In a desperate act to get away from him, Misaki rolled off the couch and onto the ground. Just as she was about to get up, Takumi held her down. He straddled her, pinning her arms down by her wrists and holding down her legs with his shins.

"Now," Takumi said, staring straight into her terrified eyes for the first time that night. "are you going to tell me whats up or am I going to have to get rough with you, _Misa-chan_?"


	11. Are You Leaving?

This was not a good situation. Misaki gulped unintentionally and Takumi eyes narrowed in mild suspicion.

"Misaki." he warned, expression forbidding her move.

All at once, Misaki stopped squirming. Her eyes locked in line with his. She somewhat remembered this feeling of not being able to tear her gaze away from his. Only this time, the other party was not expressing an intimate aura; it was instead, a threatening one. A million other plausible scenarios flashed before her eyes. But none of them included Takumi losing his temper...wait...had he lost his temper? Misaki couldn't really tell. For all she knew he could be faking it. Trying to act as if nothing was wrong, Misaki gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I disturbed you Usui. I'll leave now." As she leaned forward to sit up, Takumi's grip on her wrists became even firmer and he practically threw her upper body back onto the floor. Misaki gave a small 'eep!' His glare was quite intense.

"Misaki." he repeated, lips pulled into a thin line.

Misaki started to notice he was saying her name a lot. That was five times now. She stared at him curiously.

"Why do you keep saying my name?"

Though his grip on her remained firm, almost immediately, Misaki could see Takumi's gaze soften. She waited several seconds, but he didn't answer. Instead he posed a question of his own.

"Why were you at the hospital? Does this have anything to do with the nurse's scrubs I found in your bag on Monday?"

Misaki gave him a shocked look. "You...you saw them?"

"Yup." He smirked, "you gotta tell me what's up, Misaki. 'Cause I can already guess."

Misaki took a deep breath, averting her gaze. "I guess I have to tell you now." she replied, voice unsteady. Misaki cursed her emotions. They all clogged up in the back of her throat. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, instead a choked sob escaped her lips. Her eyes burned with fresh, unshed tears. Takumi was tempted to wipe her tears away, but he knew that as soon as he loosened his grip, whether she was emotionally stable or not, she would try to break free from him.

"My mom is in the hospital."

It was a small whisper. A murmur that Takumi had to strain to hear.

"She...what?" he asked perplexed. He'd heard what she said, but he couldn't believe it.

"She needs surgery." Misaki continued in a barely audible voice. The shaky breaths impaired her speech. "If she doesn't get it within the next two months, she'll die, Usui. She'll die!" A lone teardrop finally escaped the prison of her eyes. "Suzuna and I...we volunteered in the hospital." Misaki snapped her head back to look Takumi straight in the eyes. "We can't pay for the surgery, Usui. But, the doctor said that if the two of us can get through 10 months of community service, it would cover the fees."

Misaki went silent, her body suddenly felt heavy and she went completely limp in Takumi's arms. Takumi examined her closely. Her eyes were narrowed partly from the exhaustion, partly from trying to hold the rest of the tears in. Her eyes were shadowed from all the crying she'd just been doing. But even through the frustrated frown and annoyed look in her eyes, he could see the faint blush that covered the tips of her ears and pale cheeks like a sprinkle of baby pink powder. Takumi could feel that her body had somewhat relaxed, but from wherever he touched her, she tensed up. Her wrists burned with heat and her muscles were hard that Takumi thought they would shatter if he held any tighter. Even though her forearms were absolutely prepared for escape, her hands were no longer fisted. They hung off her wrists loosely. Her legs were also tensed up. But like her hands, her feet bent outward, giving in to the pull of gravity. The movements of her chest were reflections of her breathing, shallow, uneven and shaky.

Gently, Takumi bent down and kissed away the lone tear that hung on the lobe of her right ear like a crystal earring. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the baby pink darken into a pale magenta. Slowly, he moved upward and kissed her temple, seeing the colour darken once again, this time, it turned a bright ruby.

"What are you doing baka!" she sputtered as he leaned back to face her.

"Sorry, Pres. Couldn't help it." A sudden weight floated onto Misaki's chest. He was back to calling her by nicknames.

She could feel his grip get immensely lighter and the gentlest caring smile she'd ever seen graced his face, eyes smiling too. She wanted to get up. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing out the few tears that overflowed in corners of her eyes. She wanted to get up, but her body wouldn't listen to her. It was as if her brain had short-circuited. She wanted to sit up and smack Takumi across the head and call him a perverted outer-space human, but her arms refused to move. She opened her eyes again, only to see Takumi lean back down and kiss away the rest of her tears. This time, he didn't move from his spot by her ear.

"You know," he whispered fondly to her. "its all right to cry every once in a while."

This time when he leaned back, she stared right at him. His all seeing eyes. Just how did he do it? She could only watch as he leaned closer. His nose just barely touched hers. His lips were millimeters away from hers. Both of their eyes were droopy. Misaki could have sworn she'd heard him whisper "Misaki" before he pressed his lips to her trembling ones. Even through her mild sobs, she kissed him back eagerly. Takumi's hands finally freed Misaki of his vice like grip. They were pressed flat against the wood floor as leverage. Unconsciously, Misaki's hands slowly raised to caress Takumi's face before burying themselves in his soft blond hair, pulling him closer. They kissed for a good couple minutes before they pulled away. They stayed close, noses brushing each other every couple seconds. They could feel each other's breaths, and their hearts were beating like drums in their ears. Together, they opened their eyes just the slightest. Just enough to see each other.

"Usui..." Misaki breathed. Her hands fisted his hair gently in her hands, eyes sliding shut again. "Us-"

"Takumi." came his voice.

Misaki's eyes snapped open in shock. Her mouth opened and closed a couple times before she could get another word out. And when she could she wanted to question him about it. "Usu-"

"Takumi." his voice insisted again. His left hand lifted from the floor to caress her face. "Takumi." he repeated.

Misaki gulped down the nervous shock. She shyly lowered her gaze and opened her mouth. "ta...Takumi." she murmured. Takumi's eyes fluttered closed for only a moment before reopening. "Louder." he urged. He could feel Misaki take in a slow breath. "Takumi." she repeated a bit louder albeit timidly. He leaned in closer, his forehead barely grazing hers. Takumi's eyes bored into hers, forcing her to look back at him. "Again." he commanded, voice a bit rough. He felt her left move from his hair to place its burning warmth just on the side of his neck, below his chin. Though nervous, she matched the intensity of his gaze.

"Takumi." his named rolled off her tongue easily, as if she'd always said it. But no more than a second after she'd said it, said person smashed his lips to hers, pulling her into a passionate and loving kiss. The kiss was slow but intense. A few seconds into it, she could feel him nibbling softly on her bottom lip, asking for entrance. Misaki didn't bother to contemplate it and parted her lips. The tingling sensation that she felt was foreign to her. It made her body burn and her hands and feet tingled with a pleasured buzz. She was so concentrated on this new feeling she didn't know what to expect as Takumi tentatively dipped his tongue into her mouth.

The feeling that brought made Misaki lightheaded and dizzy and she couldn't help but let out a moan. Her right hand gripped his hair so hard that it must have hurt and her left hand, unable to grip the skin it was placed on, reached over his shoulder and grabbed his shirt. At hearing her moan, Takumi slowly pulled his tongue back and broke the kiss, his breath coming out in puffs. "Misaki." he whispered fondly. Misaki could feel his blond spikes tickle her chin as he moved lower. Takumi took his time as he kissed her neck. He started from just below her chin and moved carefully downward, his ears drinking in the sensual sounds that escaped from Misaki's lips.

Misaki could feel Takumi's fiery lips leaving a warm burning sensation wherever they touched. She couldn't help but moan at the feeling. At every little nip or suck he would give, she would let out a squeak or a squeal of bliss. Misaki's breathing was laboured and she already knew her face was a cherry red from the mild embarrassment. As Takumi reached the very base of her neck, it left a completely different impression on Misaki.

"Takumi..." she moaned softly.

That brought Takumi back to reality. He could tell where this was going and he just couldn't do it to her. Not now at least. Unwillingly, he removed his lips from her neck and slowly sat up. As he stood, Takumi extended a welcoming hand to Misaki. Misaki breathing hard, and though confused, took Takumi's hand. He pulled her up and into his arms. He embraced her tightly, one hand on her lower back the other a little higher up. Misaki's arms were locked around her neck. Takumi leaned his head on her right shoulder and sighed.

"I'm sorry." he apologized. It took a moment, but Misaki understood what he meant and instead of jumping away and yelling like she normally would have, she just embraced him tighter, burying her face in his chest. He leaned back and gently stroked her face with the back of his left hand. Then he took her hand in his own. "Come on." he said. "Its late. I'll take you home."

* * *

As the two of them got off the bus, Takumi immediately took Misaki's hand in his own. She blushed like mad, but her shaking hand clutched his as tight as she could. As they approached the gates to her house, Misaki didn't want to let go of Takumi. The terrifying feeling from earlier had returned. She felt that if she let him go now, he would disappear. The dreaded feeling paralyzed her in fear. Takumi leaned down and whispered a "G'night, Pres" before unlocking their intertwined fingers and walking back in the direction they came from.

It wasn't until he was fading from her sight that she could move again. Quickly turning on her heels, Misaki decided to follow wherever her heart was leading her...and so she ran.

"TAKUMI!" she screamed for him.

Takumi stopped mid-stride and turned in surprise. Next thing he knew, Misaki had her arms around his neck and his lips were pressed firmly against hers. They held each other for a few minutes before Misaki pulled away to look him in the eyes.

"You can't leave me." she pleaded to him. Her face was a dark red, but her words were completely sincere. "Promise me you won't leave! Please, promise you won't leave me. You can't le-"

Takumi kissed her hard. When they parted, Misaki got a look at his amused but somehow sad smile. "I promise." he said before walking away.

As Takumi walked off into the darkness, he looked to the stars, the wry smile somehow refused to leave his face. Slowly raising an eyebrow, Takumi stared at the moon and inquired about one thing.

"Just how did she know?"


	12. Love Bites! Literally!

Misaki stalked down to the café Saturday afternoon. Her deathly glare was irremovable from her face. If she saw him today, she swore she would kill him. She was relieved at least she had a reason to wear her scarf today. The cutting wind chilled her to the bone. She snuck down the alley as always and fetched the key from her bag. She looked to both sides of the alley before unlocking the back door and walking in.

"Manager!" she called out, looking around. Hurriedly, she rounded the corner and ran up the employee stairs to the changing rooms on the second floor.

"Manager!" she called again. This time she was rewarded with a response.

"Misa-chan, is that you?" the reply was followed by a heavy thud and the sound of running feet. Satsuki came around the lockers to greet her.

"Good afternoon, Manager." Misaki greeted pulling her scarf higher over her face to hide her embarrassment.

"Misa-chan! You're rather early today." she exclaimed surprised. "You're shift doesn't start for another hour."

"I know Manager." Misaki's voice was slightly muffled by the scarf. "But I need to ask Erika-san about something. Is she out serving customers?"

"Yes, but when she comes back I'll send her straight to you." Satsuki winked happily before running off.

Misaki took a seat on the bench opposite the lockers and waited a good twenty minutes before Erika came running for her.

"Misa-chan!" she jumped at her friend in a hug. "What's up?"

Misaki gulped. "Hi Erika-san." she coughed at the impact. "I need your help. You were the first person who came to mind."

"Eh?" Erika asked. "With what?"

"Makeup." Misaki said simply before pulling the scarf from around her neck.

There in an uneven line were five hickeys trailing down her neck. They were a rather dark shade of purple. Misaki blushed a furious red. Erika inspected them carefully.

"Looks like our little Misa's got some love bites." she teased.

"I need to cover them up. The Maid*Latte uniform doesn't cover this."

"These are rather new." She gave Misaki a mischievous look. "When did this happen?" Erika wiggled her eyebrows at her.

"Last night." Misaki whispered. Erika could barely hear it, but Misaki murmured an annoyed "I'm gonna kill him, that perverted outer-space human." under her breath.

Erika laughed at Misaki's naivety. "Come on," she pulled Misaki to the back of the changing room and pulled out a bag of foundation from her locker. "I have just the thing." she winked at Misaki. "Now sit still."

* * *

Misaki looked at herself in the mirror in the girls' bathroom. The cream colour of the hospital had finally been avoided, replaced by the powder pink walls of the girls' bathroom. She looked down the left side of her neck and sighed in relief. The foundation that Erika had put on earlier had yet to show signs of fading of smudging. She slowly made her way back to the clinic where she met up with the two other volunteers who worked the same shift. The tall one with piercings, she learned was Takamura. He refused to tell her his full name for some reason, but she was fine with calling him "Takamura-san". The short girl with orange hair had introduced herself as Shirayume Chiyo or Chi-chan, as she liked being called.

They sat at the circular station in the middle of the room. Chiyo was sitting on the top level of the desk to make up for her height. Takamura was leaning against the desk, right beside her and Misaki was sitting in one of the spinning nurses' chairs. They were on a break, but as it was still early evening, they still had quite a bit of energy and were contributing it to a conversation with each other.

"Ne, Misaki-san?" Chiyo inquired tilting her head. "Why are you here?"

"Eh?" Misaki said surprised at the question. "Why do you ask?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her lowered gaze.

"Well," she began. "We know that Taka-chan is here because he wants to become a surgeon. And I'm here because I need to fill my volunteering quota to be able to graduate as a nurse. But we still don't know why you're here."

"I'm here for my mom." Misaki replied simply. "I'm doing this for her."

Chiyo puffed her cheeks out disapprovingly. "That's no good Misaki-san." she scolded. "You shouldn't do things for others. You should be able to decide what you want to do yourself."

Misaki tilted her head to look at them as she stood up. "You don't seem to understand Chi-chan. I don't have a choice."

As Misaki walked off towards the elevators, Chiyo turned to Takamura.

"Ne, Taka-chan. Her eyes seemed lonely, didn't they." then her expression became a bit devious. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Takamura tilted his head downward to give her a smirk, an evil glint in his eyes. "Absolutely." he replied.

* * *

Takamura snuck down the hallways, Chiyo on his shoulders. They had been following Misaki for a few minutes. She seemed to be heading towards the other end of the hospital. They'd already gone down three floors and past seven different wards. They couldn't help but wonder where she was going. They slowed as Misaki stopped in front of the ICU. They watched as she combed through her hair with her fingers in attempt to make it more presentable and took in several deep breaths before walking in. No one stopped her. It seemed she was a regular visitor. They followed silently as Misaki lead them down the first hall to the left and to a room near the end.

Takamura carefully put Chiyo down on the floor as Misaki picked up one of the phones from the wall. The one that connected to room #415. They saw her somewhat solemn expression forcibly brighten as she spoke into the phone.

"Hi Mom. How's it going?"

...

"Ahh. Have you heard it from Suzu yet? No? She managed to win us a new tea set in this week's lottery."

...

"Yes Mom, I'm still keeping up with my studies."

...

...

...

"MOM! Wh...what has Suzuna been telling you! No, I did not spend the night at that pervert's house yesterday!"

...

Suddenly they saw Misaki's smile soften into a truly grateful smile. "Yes, Mom, Suzu and I are perfectly fine."

* * *

When Misaki returned to the nurses' station, Takamura and Chiyo were standing on opposite ends of the circular desk, surrounded by a depressing atmosphere.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked, perplexed at the sudden change.

The two of them gave her a sympathetic look that she didn't understand. Chiyo stood from her spot on the desk, feet planted between the phone and a pile of patient files.

"Ne, Misaki-san..."she spoke. Chiyo took a step forward, about to jump off the table when her right foot got caught on the phone cord.

"CHI-CHAN!" Misaki screamed.

Next thing she knew, Misaki was on the floor cringing in pain. The stack of once neat files were scattered like cherry blossoms and Chiyo was scampering off of Misaki. Takamura rushed over. Misaki tried getting up, Takamura supporting her back.

"Misaki-san! Oh my god, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Chiyo apologized over and over. She looked like she might cry.

Takamura tried lifting her by her hands and a stinging pain ripped through Misaki's left shoulder. Misaki cried out in pain. Her right hand wrenched itself from Takamura's grip to keep the ripping feeling from spreading down her shoulder. She clutched it in pain. Chiyo ran for the first doctor she saw, while Takamura carried her to the third examination room and set her down on the table. Takamura stood leaning against the wall, waiting for Chiyo to return with a doctor.

"Why didn't you tell us your mother was a patient here?" he asked. There was no sympathy, no pity, simply curiosity.

"I didn't think it was really necessary." Misaki winced.

Takamura decided to shut up. He stood there awkwardly, waiting in silence. As soon as Chiyo returned, Takamura practically fled from the room, closing it behind him. Chiyo stayed with the doctor as an assistant. After being rushed into the room by Chiyo, the doctor ripped open Misaki's shirt down the side. As the unknown doctor examined Misaki's shoulder, she noticed her dark hands became covered in a beige powder.

"Ayuzawa-san, are you wearing foundation?" the woman asked.

"Eh? But Misaki-san, you said you never wore makeup!" Chiyo said surprised.

"Che." The doctor sighed, turning to wash her hands. "I can't examine you like this. Shirayume, can you go wet a cloth and wipe off the foundation?"

"Y-yes Ma'am." Chiyo hurriedly did as told.

As Chiyo climbed onto the examination table, she lightly pressed on Misaki's left arm to keep her still and a sudden small ripping sound was heard. Misaki's eyes widened when her arm went numb. Then all of a sudden, the pain washed over her. She screamed. The doctor turned around in alarm. The area just behind her shoulder was beginning to turn purple.

"Shirayume! Get that makeup off NOW!" she commanded.

Chiyo rushed to wipe off the beige and dumped the cloth in the sink.

* * *

It was around 10 o'clock when the doctor finally let Misaki leave the hospital. She changed from her ripped scrubs into her jeans and long sleeved shirt. Annoyed she pushed her hair over to the left side to cover as many of the hickeys as possible. Misaki winced every time she had to move her left arm. She could move her hand and elbow fine, but her shoulder really hurt. She found Suzuna talking with Chiyo and Takamura in the clinic just as she was about to leave. Suzuna freaked when she saw the bandages peeking out from her collar.

"Onee-chan, What happened!" she panicked. Suzuna rushed towards Misaki and checked out the bandages. At once, she noticed the hickeys, but chose not to comment.

"I'm okay, Suzuna. I just tore a muscle." Misaki sighed.

"Onee-chan?" Takamura and Chiyo exclaimed at the same time.

"Just how little do we know about you Misaki-san?" Chiyo asked exasperated.

"Quite little." Misaki answered nervously before turning to Suzuna. "Suzu, I'm heading home. Here's the bus fare for you to get back. I'll probably be asleep when you get back so I want you to go straight to bed, okay?"

"Okay, Onee-chan." Suzuna eyed Misaki's left arm worriedly, "Are you okay to get home on your own?"

"I'm fine Suzuna. Trust me." and to prove it, Misaki lifted her bag onto her right shoulder with ease. Though the action slightly pulled the muscles on the other side, Misaki smiled.

"See you later Suzu. See you tomorrow Takamura, Chi-chan."

As Misaki walked off towards the exit, Chiyo turned guiltily to Suzuna.

"I've already apologized to Misaki-san, but I feel like I should apologize to you too." She took a deep breath and bowed low. "I'm very, very sorry. Its all my fault that this happened and I don't expect you to forgive me."

"Of course I won't forgive you." Suzuna responded bitterly.

Chiyo stood up straight to face her. She could see the frustrated tears forming in her eyes.

"Do you know what you've done? Onee-chan may have forgiven you, but I won't. Do you know how hard she works! NO! You don't. Do you know what will happen if we don't finish enough hours in the next two weeks? Our mom's surgery will have to be postponed. By ripping a muscle in her shoulder, do you know how long it will take for that to heal? Even if the doctor tells her to rest, do you think Onee-chan will listen? She already worries enough about her studies, about her reputation. She even works a part-time job just to keep us afloat. Can you even begin to understand what you've done?"

Chiyo's eyes flicked shamefully to the floor.

"I guess not." With that, Suzuna turned on her heels and walked away.

* * *

**If anyone wants to know about updates or any extra info on my stories, check out my profile. You gotta scroll all the way down though. **

**Miko xD **


	13. What Do You Want From Me?

_Thoughts_

"Japanese speaking"

**"English speaking"**

_

* * *

_

It was hard to concentrate. Misaki's eyes twitched. She took a deep breath, and pushed the feeling of annoyance out of her mind so that she could try and concentrate on what the teacher was writing on the chalkboard. She tried to calm down, to resist the urge and throw him across the room, and continued writing her notes. She wanted to turn around and yell at him for distracting her. She was sorely tempted to at least punch him in the face and call him a "perverted outer-space human." She wanted to know why he wouldn't stop staring at her. Takumi had been doing it all morning. She even caught him staring during PE. Misaki groaned mentally. Why did his seat have to be right behind hers? She was still spacing out, scribbling her notes aimlessly, when the bell rang for lunch. Misaki sighed. She would have killed for some paperwork at this time, but her working habit caused her to finish it earlier that morning.

Distracted, her feet lead her to the roof. Misaki found she had some difficulty pushing the door open with only the force of one arm. She managed to get it open and was nearly blown back by the strong wind. Good thing she was wearing her blazer. Unconsciously, Misaki walked over to the ledge below which the pool sat and stretched her moving arm. She massaged her left shoulder, it felt incredibly stiff. But every time she would apply pressure, a sharp pain would ignite from under her shoulder blade. Pissed, Misaki leaned on the ledge (with only her right arm). She felt mentally and physically exhausted. The previous day, at the café, Misaki dropped her tray twice, shattered a glass, and had to memorize orders all day because it was rude to put her tray on the table to write her orders out. Carefully, Misaki bent her left elbow to lean her arm of the ledge. She dangled her right arm over the edge, letting the wind slip through her fingers. She lifted her right hand to her eye level and realized for the first time in three days just how useless she felt.

Frustrated, Misaki buried her face in her right hand. She was so caught up in her predicament that she didn't hear the roof door groan in opening. She only noticed the other person's presence when he wrapped his arms around her. Horribly surprised, Misaki gave a short yelp before turning her head. She stared at the man, eyes wide, as if she didn't expect to see him.

"Ta..ta..Usui!" she gasped in surprise.

"What's up, Pres?" she could see a slight disappointment in his eyes, probably from not being able to say his name, but still, he smirked tauntingly at her.

"Stop following me, Baka!" Misaki exclaimed, turning around in his arms. Though she'd said that, she really didn't want him to leave. Embarrassed, Misaki turned away in attempt to hide her blush.

Misaki could feel Takumi lean down. He pulled her to him a bit tighter and she exhaled in relief when he avoided her left shoulder. She felt the tip of his nose graze the shell of her left ear and the warmth of his breath on her face as he whispered into her ear.

"Never. Even if Pres tells me to, I'll never leave you alone." Misaki's plea from Friday came back to her and she grasped his shirt with her hands as if trying to keep him there. That's when Misaki noticed he was staring at her left shoulder.

Almost Immediately, Misaki pushed away from him, hitting the ledge behind her. Takumi's left hand came to grasp her right wrist to keep her from escaping. He pulled her closer, until she stood no more than two feet away from him. Carefully, Takumi's right hand came to rest on her left shoulder. He watched as his gentle touch caused her to cringe in pain and push him away. Misaki backed away from him, averting his gaze. Her right hand occupied the place where Takumi's hand had just been, as if to protect it. She didn't move. She couldn't. She could feel Takumi's gaze on her as he approached her. It wasn't until she saw Takumi's hand reaching for her that she snapped back to reality and slapped his hand away from her.

Takumi stared at her in surprise. His hand was still poised in the air after being slapped. Misaki's stare gave away her helplessness. She only looked at him for a second before darting towards the door, but Takumi was faster. She'd barely pulled the door open before he got in her way. Misaki desperately tried to bypass him, but Takumi would just block her way. He looked at her sternly. He stared her straight in the eyes before speaking.

"Show me." Takumi commanded.

"No!" Misaki said it immediately, without hesitation.

"Show me." he repeated.

"NO!" She tried to get past him again, but this time, Takumi grabbed her left wrist, stopping her in her tracks instantly. Misaki turned to face him fiercely. "Let me through!" she growled.

"No." he replied flatly.

"Let me through, Usui!" she spat out again.

"No." he replied again. Then he gave her an amused smirk. "See how annoying that is?"

Still holding onto her wrist, Takumi pulled down the left sleeve of her green blazer. He could see it. Though the thinness of her shirt he could see the lines of bandages wrapped around her shoulder and around her back. Misaki felt defeated. He wasn't supposed to find out. She was always bothering Takumi with her problems and now...she couldn't hide them from him anymore. Takumi felt Misaki wrist tense in his grip, her left hand ball into a fist. He held it firmly to prevent her from hitting him with it only to be punched by her other fist. Takumi moved to grab it when she grabbed onto his shirt.

"Misaki?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry." she murmured.

"What?" Misaki was always surprising him. "For what?" he smiled.

"I'm always coming to Us...Takumi with my problems. I thought I could at least keep this much to myself." she admitted.

"Why is that a problem?" Takumi asked.

"Eh?" she looked up surprised.

"Why is telling me your problems a bad thing?" he repeated.

"I feel like a bother. I feel like I'm bothering you with all my problems. You probably have problems of your own and here I am dumping mine on you as well. I just feel like I should be able to han-"

Before she could say anymore, Takumi took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Unconsciously, Misaki's right arm snaked around his neck. She could feel her lips part at the touch of his tongue and Misaki pulled him closer. Misaki couldn't say how long they stood there lip-locked in the roof doorway. When Takumi pulled away, Misaki could feel his warmth.

"You talk to much." he chided lightly.

Takumi's arms gently wrapped her in an embrace. Misaki buried her face in his shirt, trying to hide her blush. He'd kissed her! At school! Sudden thoughts of panic flew through Misaki's mind. What if someone saw them? They were at school after all, someone could have passed by! The door was open! Did anyone see them together? These persistent questions plagued Misaki's thoughts for another couple seconds. Looking up, Misaki was about to ask him something when she noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Hey!" she glared at him. "Don't even think abo-"

Once again, he cut her off with a passionate kiss. He smirked against her lips. Misaki was helpless against him and he knew it. Takumi pulled away slowly, staying close. As soon as Misaki was free she went at him with anger.

"Usui!" she hissed angrily. "What if someone sees us!" Misaki slapped his left arm reproachfully.

Takumi just smirked. "No one will see us." Stepping forward, he forced Misaki back into the windy air of the roof, letting the door close. Misaki stepped back slowly.

"Lets go back." Misaki tried to persuade him. "Sakura and Shizuko are probably looking for me."

Knowing when to stop, Takumi let Misaki run past him toward the stairs only catching a phrase whispered from her lips.

"Perverted outer-space human."

Takumi only stared at the door closing as her figure darted down the stairs. He smiled triumphantly. She'd tried to hide it by running past him, but he'd seen it. He'd seen the bright red colour that painted her cheeks in embarrassment.

* * *

"Misaki! Where were you?" Sakura exclaimed as Misaki walked out into the courtyard.

"N-no where!" She squeaked in surprise.

Misaki wasn't expecting to see her. With half of the lunch hour already done, she thought maybe Sakura and Shizuko had returned to the classroom.

"W-what are you guys doing outside?" she stuttered loudly.

"It was really nice weather outside!" Sakura exclaimed. "We just got out of P.E. so the wind feels really good!"

Slowly, Misaki's mild blush faded and a soft smile spread across her face.

"So," she asked, noticing the unopened lunchboxes by their sides. "Have you guys eaten yet?"

"No." Shizuko replied, annoyed. "Sakura was having too much fun running in the wind and she didn't want me eating without her."

"Well then, I'll join you two." Misaki plopped down right in-between Sakura and Shizuko."

* * *

The sun was settling on the horizon, shining rays of colour onto Takumi's apartment floor through his window. Exhausted from another long day at school and working at Maid*Latte, Takumi padded his way towards the door, where his doorbell rang impatiently.

"**I'm coming, I'm coming.**_"_ he murmured, stifling his yawn.

Brushing his hair back, Takumi unlatched the door. Not knowing what to expect, he opened the door.

"**Good to see you, Takumi!**" smiled the person in front of him.

Though he was surprised, Takumi did not show it on his face, instead his expression remained calm.

"Ahh, **I wasn't expecting you to come so soon.**_"_ he replied politely. "**Come in and take a seat.**"

The person strode gracefully into the apartment. The luxurious clothing was a great contrast to Takumi's pyjamas, which consisted of grey sweatpants and a t-shirt. The person sat down on Takumi's couch as if he owned the place. Ignoring his guest, Takumi wandered into the kitchen to boil some water.

"**Earl Grey or Green?**" He called back.

_"_**Earl Grey.**" the guest replied instantaneously.

"I thought as much." Takumi said to himself. Within minutes he returned with a cup of tea.

Setting the cup down, Takumi's friendliness shattered.

"**So what do you want?**_"_ he asked.

"**My, my, Takumi,**" the guest smirked, ignoring the question. "**you're not even going to ask how your family is doing? You don't want in on the all the gossip going about? Nothing about your grandfather or your dear, dear brother?**"

"**I couldn't care less.**" Takumi replied.

"**You've picked up quite the Japanese accent after all the years you've been here. I can hear you're English accent fading quite a bit.**" The guest examined Takumi with great thought, shaking his head from side to side. "**No, no, no. That won't do at all.**"

"**I'm not going back.**" Takumi said, cutting to the chase. Slowly he leaned towards the guest intimidatingly. "**You're only a minor servant. And you can tell my 'brother' that he can try whatever methods he likes, but I won't go back there.**"

The servant just smiled sweetly. "**No need for that actually. I've already got things set right here.**"

Digging into the black leather bag that accompanied him, the servant pulled out a looked at the servant suspiciously.

"**Trust me.**" The servant said handing him the nameless file. "**Once you read that, you'll come running back.**"

Carefully, Takumi took and opened the file. Inside were four untitled biographies. After reading through them all, Takumi turned to the servant confused.

"**What does any of this have to do with me?**" He asked.

The servant laughed. "**You still don't get it?**" Reaching into the bag once more, this time the servant handed him a picture. It was rather old, but Takumi recognized it right away.

Takumi glared at the envoy his brother hand sent to him.

"**Okay, fine. I'll listen. What do you want from me?**"


	14. I Don't Hate You

The shades at the far end of the Student Council room were closed and the room lights were off. The room was empty save for two people hiding behind large piles of paperwork. Misaki yawned and stretched her arms forward. As she piled papers, she strategically avoided Takumi who was sitting on the corner of her desk and hovering over her.

"Tired there, Pres?" Takumi smirked.

"No, you idiot." she denied, yawning again.

"Pres, you're exhausted. Get some rest already." Takumi reached over and caressed her cheek in his right hand, brushing back some stray hair.

"Don't touch me, Pervert." she lightly slapped his hand away. "And I don't have time to think about my exhaustion, I have too much work to finish before I can even think of taking a break."

They sat in silence for a while. The only sound was that of Misaki shuffling paper, stamping and signing. The occasional "Those idiots!" or "Do they really expect me to accept this crap!" was heard, usually followed by Misaki ripping the paper, smashing a 'REJECTED' stamp on it or balling it up and throwing it at Takumi for making a smart comment.

"AAAH!" Misaki growled throwing a new paper into the recycling bin at her side. She stood, annoyed and stomped down on the pile of paper with her foot to make it fit into the bin. "Idiots, idiots, idiots! Over half of these forms are filled with crap!" she ranted "its always 'Lets do a strip (insert game here)' or 'Lets add (insert junk food here) to the lunch menu' or 'Why not broadcast (insert death metal music here) in the morning instead of the school song?' or 'Can we mo-"

"Misaki, calm down." Takumi stood in front of the fuming girl and gently laid his hands on her shoulders.

He sighed in relief when he felt her relax under his touch, only to have her tense back up again within seconds. Misaki pushed him off roughly with her right hand.

"Why should I calm down?" she challenged. "All I get from the students here are useless ideas. Its a waste of paper! I should just take back the forms from the classrooms. I regret having put them there in the first place. They should all understand that I'm not going to accept these perverted, idiotic ide-"

Takumi didn't give her a chance to finish what she was saying. He grabbed her by the waist and planted his lips right on hers. Misaki struggled, trying to pull away, but Takumi didn't let her go. Takumi kept kissing her. Every time he pulled away, Misaki looked like she would start yelling, so he kissed her again and again. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Misaki gave in wrapped her right arm around his neck. Once Takumi realized she'd calmed down a bit, he pulled away, but didn't let her go. He lifted her onto the desk and stood in front of her, panting.

"Pres," he inquired, "am I going to have to do this every time I want to you to shut up, 'cause trust me, I don't mind at all."

"Baka!" Misaki smacked his head with her good arm, blushing. "Its not like I hate it." she murmured.

Once she saw Takumi's smirk, she realized she had not been quiet enough.

"Oh really?" he taunted. "So Pres, doesn't actually hate me?"

"I HATE YOU, BAKA!" she smacked him, embarrassed. Takumi fell to the floor in surprise, knocking over the recycling bin. He looked up at her surprise until he saw her blushing face. She averted her eyes and crossed her arms. Takumi sat among the pile of paper, staring blankly at her for a few more seconds before bursting out in laughter.

"Pres is just...(pause for intense laughter)...so funny." He slowly stood, picking up the now empty recycling bin, soft chuckles still emerging every couple seconds. 'First you kiss me then you push me away. You hug me then you run from me. With Pres, its always 'I hate you' or 'I don't hate you.'"

Takumi engulfed Misaki in a loose hug, hooking his arms around her roughly. He leaned in, knowing very well that no one was around.

"Misa-chan is just too cute." he grinned at her.

Misaki leaned back in surprise. Her blush reached all the way from the tips of her ears to her collar bone. She nervously turned her face away from Takumi. Suddenly, Misaki's face went a pale white and she slapped her right hand over her mouth.

"Misaki?" Takumi asked, concerned.

"Usui, move." she managed to get through her hand.

When Takumi, confused, didn't move an inch, she tried repeating herself.

"MOVE!"

And again, Takumi didn't. So, unable to keep it down, Misaki turned away from Takumi and threw up...right in the recycling bin. Takumi, a bit panicky, only pulled her hair away from her face and rubbed her back in soothing circles. Once, Misaki finished hurling out her lunch, she would have collapsed to the ground had Takumi not caught her in time. She weakly wiped her mouth off on her blazer sleeve. Takumi slowly sat on the ground, back against the desk, pulling Misaki down onto his lap. He sighed.

"You see, Pres." He brushed back stray hairs from her fringe. "This is what happens when you ignore your bodily needs and overwork yourself."

"What do you me-"

"You still haven't been eating properly, have you?"

"Of course I've bee-" she shut up when she saw the look on his face. "No, I haven't."

"I saw you eating lunch today. Your body has gotten used to not eating. It wasn't expecting an intake of food." He glared at her. "You idiot. You need to eat daily. It doesn't matter how little it is, Pres, but it had to be something other than water. Solid food, Misaki. Is that clear?"

"F-fine."

"Promise, Pres?" Takumi demanded.

When Misaki hesitated to answer, he spoke again.

"Are you gonna promise Pres, or am I going to have to kiss you again?" he threatened lightly.

"I PROMISE!" she yelled embarrassed.

The small moment of embarrassment was followed by her leaning over to the side to retch all over again.

"Come on, Pres, let me take you home." Takumi said, standing up.

Slowly, Takumi helped the shaking girl to her feet. "See what happens when you don't take care of yourself?" he gestured to Misaki clinging onto the desk to keep her balance as she glared fiercely at him.

Misaki made a move to sit in her chair to finish her paperwork when Takumi grabbed her right arm. Groaning in annoyance, Misaki opened her mouth to protest.

"Don't say you have work to finish." Takumi interjected. "You have a max of ten papers there Pres, it can wait until tomorrow."

"But I ha-"

"You don't have work today." he smiled.

Misaki glared at him. "How do you kn-"

"I asked Satsuki-san for your schedule 'cause I know you'd never give it to me."

Misaki made to protest again. "I'm not goi-"

"Misaki." Takumi tightened his grip in concern. "Are you going to go home willingly or am I going to have to carry you the whole way back?"

"I'm coming." She agreed quickly.

With her right arm over Takumi's shoulders and his left arm around her waist for support, the two slowly, but surely made it back to Misaki's house. As soon as they reached the gate, Takumi carefully removed his grip of Misaki, getting her to lean on the broken gate. As soon as he let go, the gate groaned dangerously under her weight and broke off, leaving an unsuspecting Misaki to collapse onto the cement. Sighing, Takumi grabbed her bag and pulled out her key.

"Hey, Usui! Where do you think you're going!" Misaki called after him as he grabbed her things and walked into her house...without her.

"Ah, Usui-kun." she heard Suzuna greet him. Everything after that was muffled by the whistling of the kettle in the kitchen.

Misaki waited around 5 minutes, she couldn't remember. When Takumi returned, she hadn't moved an inch.

"Your body's really giving out on you, isn't it?" he laughed.

"Just you wait, baka." she cracked her frail knuckles menacingly. "When I'm not tired anymore, I'm going to-"

And suddenly, Takumi had squatted down in front of her, his face inches from her own. it was just like the time in the alley. His eyes were looking through her, inspecting her.

"You're going to 'what', Pres?" he asked.

Then without warning, Takumi lifted her and flipped her onto his shoulder.

"Pervert! Put me down baka!" she flailed in his arms.

"Now," he mocked as he carried her into the house. "What were you going to do to me again?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass, Usui! Put me down now!" she yelled at him.

"Nope. Sorry, Pres." Takumi mocked, heading up the stairs. "You're not getting down from here just yet."

Takumi carried her all the way to her room and dumped her on the bed.

"Grab your stuff and take a bath, Pres." He demanded. "You should at least be able to do that much."

And with that said, he walked right out and down the stairs.

* * *

Takumi left his bag and shoes in the main hall and joined Suzuna in the kitchen.

"Ne, what are you going to do this time, Usui-kun?" she asked him as he opened the fridge.

"I gonna cook something and make sure Pres eats it." Takumi replied as he rummaged through the containers.

"Then use the food on the top shelf, its about to go bad anyways." Suzuna insisted.

"By the way," Takumi mentioned as he placed some vegetables on the counter. "you don't mind if I use all this up?" he said lifting a vegetable into Suzuna's view.

"No." She answered shortly. "I didn't know what to do with them anyways."

It was quiet after that. The silence was anxious yet comfortable. Takumi took his time cooking. Suzuna sat at the table, sipping tea and watching him cook. After the last time, when he showed her how to make pancakes, she wanted to learn form him. He had a gentle smile plastered on his face but his eyes seemed lost in thought. Suzuna could tell his movements were coming from memory and practise. The smile on his face didn't match the intensity of his eyes, as if that which made him smile was only one side of a dangerous coin. She watched as his lips curved downward and ended in a frown. Takumi's movements became sharp and his hand which had only a second ago, been chopping the vegetables swiftly and precisely were now hitting the cutting board with unnecessary force.

Suzuna didn't say anything and continued to watch him closely as she gulped down her warm beverage. _I'll interfere with his thoughts,_ she decided, _if he starts thinking something that'll cause him to either hurt himself or burn the house down._ She stared at him absently, only bringing her attention back to him when a sudden movement was made or when he used a new technique she thought of trying. Takumi finished quickly, placing the lid over the warm pot of soup and turning down the heat on the stove.

"Soup?" Suzuna asked confused.

"Ahh. Pres tried to get solid food down during lunch today and ended up vomiting it all only three hours later. This should go down a bit easier." Takumi explained.

"Usui-kun," she asked as he sat across from her at the table. "I asked you last time but you...you like Onee-chan don't you?"

"Yeah." he smiled meekly.

Suzuna raised a curious eyebrow. Last time she asked, he had completely avoided her as if she had never asked. But this time, he gave her a straightforward answer. _Something probably happened between him and Onee-chan since the last time I saw him._ she figured.

"I don't get it." she sighed.

"Eh?" Takumi said surprised. "Don't get 'what'?"

"You're a very confusing person Usui-kun. From the first time I met you, there was something about you that didn't make sense." Suzuna stated airily, voicing her thoughts.

Takumi only smirked bitterly, surprising Suzuna. _Seems like she noticed. She's sharp. Its probably the one of the things she got from Ayuzawa-san that Misaki doesn't understand very well._

"Something that doesn't make sense, eh?" he repeated.

"I can't quite put my finger on it." Suzuna tried to explain. "Its almost like-"

"SUZUNA! I'm out of the bath. Your turn, go before we run out of hot water!"

"Haaaaaaai!" Suzuna replied surprised, her voice echoing in the stairway.

As she stood to leave, you spared a glance at the older teenager, who had returned to his thoughts before padding her way up the stairs. Takumi was left to his thoughts until the clicking of the kitchen door was heard. He lifted his head to see Misaki entering, having closed the door behind her. She swiftly but carefully shuffled over, shaky legs carrying her to the chair Suzuna had occupied seemingly minutes earlier, right across from him.

"You're still here, idiot Usui?" Misaki exclaimed mildly, leaning on the back of the chair.

"Yup." he replied expressionlessly. He stood, grabbing a bowl and spoon from the counter and returned with a bowlful of soup. "Time to eat Pres!"

He set the bowl down in front of her. Misaki stared surprised at the food in front of her.

"You..." she smiled, knowing yelling at this point was no use, "you have to stop doing this. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Nope." was his only response as he plopped back down on his chair. "Now, sit and eat."

Knowing it was best not to argue, Misaki sat and silently ate the food he'd placed in front of her. Once she'd finished, she watched as Takumi turned off the stove and replaced the lid on the pot.

"Don't have seconds today, Pres. Your stomach is still probably unsettled." He advised patting her head. "I'll be leaving, see you tomorrow."

He barely got past the table before Misaki's hand came to grab his.

"Baka." she yelled at him. "Weren't you the one who promised you'd never leave me?" she asked embarassed.

"I thought Misaki hated me?" Takumi taunted, turning to face her, lacing her fingers through his.

Misaki averted her gaze as he pulled her into a light embrace.

"I don't hate you." she murmured.

Takumi just pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair. _I'm sorry._


	15. Where?

"Okay now, Ayuzawa-chan, try rotating your shoulder."

Slowly, Misaki lifted her arm. Not sensing any pain, she brought it higher and higher until...

"Ow." she winced.

"Okay. We'll stop there for today. You've made exceptional progress, Ayuzawa-chan." Dr Miura complimented. "If you keep this up, your shoulder should be good to go in about two more weeks."

"Thank you Miura-san."

Dr Miura watched as she gathered her bags and noticed the scrubs sitting inside.

"Ayuzawa-chan, do you still plan on working here?" Dr Miura gave her a stern look.

"But I hav-"

"Go home." he continued. "The surgery has been fully paid for. There is no longer a need for you to offer your services here. Even your sister stopped coming in."

"But I don't feel like we actually did anything." Misaki explained.

"That is not your decision." Dr Miura ushered her out of the examination room. "Well then, go home and rest. I'll see you next week."

Misaki was about to follow what he said, but thought against it and headed towards the elevators. Even if she wasn't allowed to work, she could at least visit her mom. The elevator opened, revealing an empty metal cabin. Misaki stepped in and pressed the button she wanted. She sighed, leaning against the railings as the elevator lurched upward. She felt so tired. She wasn't working in the hospital anymore but she was still bugged over why not. It was only three weeks ago that she showed up ready to work Saturday night and Dr Miura just shoved her straight back into the changing rooms.

_"What do you mean its been paid for?" Misaki practically screamed at him._

_"What I mean Ayuzawa-chan is that someone deposited the full amount for your mother's surgery this morning." Dr Miura tried to explain. "The client gave us no viable reason to decline the offer."_

_"Do..do you at least know who it was?" She asked desperately._

_"I'm afraid not, but the man seemed to know your mother quite well. Though he gave us no indication of his identity. He was covered from head to toe in black."_

_"Damn it!"_

"Just be sure to hold onto the walker at all times, all right, Ayuzawa-san." Misaki heard someone explain. "You're legs aren't quite stable yet."

"Mom!" Misaki exclaimed as she rounded the corner in a hurry.

She found Minako holding onto a walker and shuffling slowly down the hallway. There by her side was Chiyo, instructing her on how to continue.

"Chi-chan!" she exclaimed again. "Wha...what are you doing here?"

Minako laughed at her daughter's flustered face.

"She's only helping me, Misaki." Minako began explaining.

"I got assigned as Ayuzawa-san's rehab nurse last week!" Chiyo finished.

"Umm...excuse me, Shirayume-san. Could you help me back to my room. It would be easier to speak there." Minako asked.

"Oh! Of course." Chiyo said guiding Minako back the way they came.

Ayuzawa Minako was no longer in the ICU. After getting the surgery, she was transferred to a regular room on the other side of the hospital. _And if everything goes well, _Misaki thought happily,_ she'll be discharged in less than two months._ Misaki sat in a chair in the corner of the room as Chiyo helped her mother to sit on the bed.

"Hows your arm, Misaki?" Minako asked once she was settled in.

Misaki observed as Chiyo replaced certain IV drips into her mother's arm.

"Its just fine, Mom." she smiled. "Miura-san said I should be good by the end of the month."

"Really, Misaki-san!" Chiyo exclaimed hopefully. "Thank goodness!"

"Really, Chi-chan. I can already lift with it and can carry stuff with it, but Miura-san said not to use it until he says so."

"Hahaha." Minako laughed, clutching her stomach. "Really, Misaki." she huffed lightly. "You should try listening to Miura-san for once! He is the doctor not you."

"I know, I know." Misaki sulked. Looking away from her mother, Misaki noticed the basket of fruit on her bedside table. "Hey Mom, who brought the fruit?"

"Oh that? Hinata came by with Suzuna yesterday." Minako said smiling. "It was nice to have such a lively visit."

"Oooooh! You mean that cute guy?" Chiyo exclaimed brightly "Do you know him too, Misaki-san?"

"...yeah." Misaki sweat-dropped.

"Oh." Minako exclaimed quietly, realizing something. "Misaki, next time you come, why don't you bring that boy over...whats his name...hmmm...Usui. Isn't he your boyfriend?"

"M...MOM!" Misaki blushed furiously. "That pervert is not my boyfriend! Besides," she whispered under her breath. "when was the last time I saw that perverted outer-space human?"

Misaki sighed tiredly.

"Its been a long day, I'm heading home." Misaki stood abruptly from her chair and headed towards the door. "See you later, Mom, Chi-chan."

As Misaki left the room and headed down the hallway, Chiyo turned solemnly to Minako.

"Ne, Ayuzawa-san" she started. "I don't know why, but her eyes still seem lonely."

Minako stared back at Chiyo, the same look on her face.

"She looks like I did," she said "right after my husband left us."

* * *

"TAKUMI!"

Misaki awoke with a fright. Frustrated, she pushed off her covers huddled up in a ball. She was sweating profoundly. She rocked herself silently, hand pressed hard against her ears.

_"See ya later, Pres."_

She couldn't get his voice out of her head.

_"Waz' up Pres?"_

It kept haunting her.

"_You're an idiot, Pres."_

She hadn't slept in almost a month.

_"Baka!"_

She was scared.

_"You okay?"_

What happened to him?

_"I pormise."_

She thought he'd just disappeared on one of his day trips to weird places...

_"Even if Pres tell me to, I'll never leave you alone."_

But Misaki hadn't seen him in a month.

_"See ya later, Pres."_

That was the last thing he said to her.

_"See ya later, Pres."_

It had been a normal day at the café. He'd been part-timing. She should have known something was wrong when they left that night. She should have seen how awkward it was to see him with that bag on his back, the full contents of his locker in it. She should have noticed the regret in his eyes when they stopped in front of her door. The kiss he gave her that night; so full of passion, of love. It should have given her an indication that he was acting out of character. His last words to her had carved out a hole in her heart.

_"See ya later, Pres."_

Why couldn't he see what he did to her. Why couldn't he see how much pain he was putting her through. After a week of his disappearance, she showed up at his apartment, prepared to yell at him for being an idiot and skipping school. After twenty minutes of ringing the doorbell, knocking and threatening, one of the neighbours opened their doors to ask what all the noise was about. Thats how Misaki found out that he'd moved out. That day, she came home and cried her heart out. _He promised._ She repeated that to herself over and over. Every time she'd been reduced to tears, that was all she had to reassure herself with. _He promised._ She tried to remember the times she spent with him. But sorrow blurred her memory and that only scared her further.

"He's not coming back." she whispered to herself, horrified.

_"Its all right to cry every once in a while."_

That memory only caused her to cry out even further. She was so tired, so exhausted. She didn't notice Suzuna open the door and stare at her horrified from the doorway before entering and engulfing her elder sister in a hug.

"Its all right, Onee-chan." she soothed. "Its all right."

Misaki held onto Suzuna for dear life. She'd lost her father; she'd almost lost her mother; and she'd lost Takumi. Misaki knew she shouldn't have trusted him to begin with. She knew all men were the same. They were disgustingly vicious ugly manipulative creatures. So why the hell did she still love him so much?

_"See ya later, Pres."_


	16. Winter Blues

"Misa-chan!" Satsuki called from the back of the shop.

Misaki politely excused herself from the customer she was serving and returned to the employee quarters.

"Manager?" she questioned entering the kitchen. "You were looking for me?"

"Ah!" Satsuki exclaimed dropping the boxes in her arms. "Oh. Yes, I was. Just a second."

Satsuki ran out of the kitchen leaving Misaki to stand in the heat, confused. She returned quickly enough, carrying a white envelope. Satsuki handed the paper to Misaki. Misaki inspected the white envelope only to find her name written on it.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I actually have no clue." Satusuki admitted. "I was cleaning out my desk last night and found it. It was buried under last month's food bills. I thought it would be best if I gave it to you."

"Well," Misaki said skeptically, "Thanks anyways."

"Alright then, lets move these boxes." With that Satsuki lifted her tower of boxes and, once again, left Misaki alone in the entirety of the kitchen.

Misaki slowly sat down on the kitchen counter and inspected the envelope further. She found right under the fancy cursive in which her name was written was, something tiny was scribbled. It looked like it was written in block letters. _Oh well._ she sighed. _I'll check it out later._ As evening progressed into night, Misaki slowly forgot about the stuffed envelope packed away in her bag. As she served her last customer, Misaki exited the dining area and headed towards the lockers. She changed quickly, placing layer upon layer over her body to keep warm.

The cold December weather wasn't in her favour. As she forced herself into the dark alley, Misaki thought of the previous winter. The one she spent with Takumi. It had been a hilarious disaster. To try and thank him for all his help, she had practised her cooking every day of the previous week. Lo and behold when she tried cooking in his apartment, she nearly set the place on fire. Just as the fire lit up the stove, Misaki had dumped a bowl of water she had prepared on top of it. By the time Takumi came to see what all the ruckus was about, he found his stove charred black and found Misaki standing there, soaked by Takumi's obnoxious (and unknown) automatic sprinklers, the smell of burnt cloth permeating the air.

Misaki laughed lightly at the memory, shaking flaky snow out of her hair, her breath clouding the air around her. Takumi's face had been a sight to behold. In his hurry to reach the kitchen he'd dropped the tea he was drinking, the spill dripping down his white shirt. Though he seemed mildly worried by the flame, his expression was more one of surprise and amusement. She stood there, in front of the stove. The ends of Takumi's apron were burnt, causing the garment to lose its shape and hang off her frame awkwardly. Her left sleeve had also caught in the heat, and though it wasn't burnt off, it was slightly black and smelled of smoke. When Takumi saw the annoyed and panicked look on her face, he tried to hold back his laughter. But when she gave him that 'I know I'm hopeless at cooking' look, he couldn't hold it in and for the rest of the night, she chased him with a wet metal wok, trying to get Takumi to shut up...that was until Takumi sat her down to treat her burns.

As she wandered through the dark whiteness of the snowstorm, the vague direction of the metro in mind, Misaki got lost in the crowd of people. First she got caught between a woman who was arguing violently with someone on the phone. A man came over and tapped the woman to get her attention, blocking Misaki's only way through. At first she just tried waiting, but after a few minutes Misaki attempted to bypass them only to have the woman accidentally shove her through the front door of a bar. Embarrassed, Misaki gathered her dropped luggage and exited the building, the smell of alcohol burning her lungs.

After getting pushed into a couple making out, being pulled along by three different men who thought she was a prostitute, nearly tripping over five roadside vendors and buying a steamed bun for the trip home, Misaki finally made it to the metro station. Sighing, Misaki bought her ticket and lugged herself into a car. She quietly sat down in an empty seat in the corner and munched on her steamed bun. The sleep deprivation was really starting to get to her. At school, all the teachers told her she seemed to have lost some vitality. It was true. When, normally, she would have thrown the boys out the windows for running naked in the hallways, now she would just shove them into the principal's office instead. _Let him deal with his students for once. _She didn't want to deal with anything anymore. She started falling asleep during Student Council meetings. She couldn't last through her shifts at the café. The pain in her shoulder was just another handicap. She couldn't fight well, or work as much as she wanted.

Misaki knew that if she wanted it to heal, she would have to take it easy or else it would just be a pending injury, but it was only making it harder to continue her everyday activities. As the metro car jolted to a stop, Misaki grabbed the pole in front of her and lift her self to her feet. Her shaky legs shuffled through unnoticed with the rest. She was at a point where she felt like collapsing. But for some reason, she fought it off, and trudged through the snow, towards home. Silently, Misaki tip-toed through the house to get to her room. She slipped out of her boots but didn't bother removing her coat, the heating was broken. Dumping her things in the corner of the room, Misaki slumped under her bedcovers. She slipped her arms out of her sleeves and into the body of her shirt to conserve warmth and that's where she fell asleep, knowing the nightmares would come for her soon.

* * *

"Arg!"

He couldn't sleep. She plagued his mind every second of every day. She reminded him of why he was here, of why he had agreed to this madness in the first place.

"Damn it!" Trudging out of the luxurious room, he made his way towards the bathroom. "How does this place not have sleeping pills!" he exclaimed to himself as he dug through the medicine drawer.

"**Now, now Takumi. Its not nice to talk in a language we can't understand**."

Takumi snapped up in surprise.

"**My apologies, Brother. I can't seem to sleep**." he apologized, a weary smile twitching on his face.

His brother frowned. "**Come.**" his brother commanded. "**Why don't we have a chat?**"

"**Brother, its 2 in the mor-**"

"**No excuses! Follow me.**"

Sighing tiredly, Takumi padded along behind his brother towards the study. The old room smelled faintly of mothballs. both sides of the room were lined with bookshelves. At the opposite end of the door was a carved oak desk. On it was a lamp, a laptop and a stack of files. Behind the desk, on the wall, were two windows. The thick brown curtains hung closed. In the corner just right of the door was a circle of couches and a coffee table in the middle.

"**Sit. I'll be right back.**" Takumi watched as his brother left the room, leaving the door wide open.

Instead of sitting as he was told to do, Takumi walked towards the window and pulled back one side of a curtain. The slow falling snow looked so peaceful. Takumi rubbed his eyes, trying to rid himself of the burning sensation that came from his lack of sleep. As he watched the mild snowstorm through the thick glass, he thought back to the last Christmas he'd spent with Misaki. He chuckled at the memory of her in the burnt apron, searching for something to hit him with, her fingertips burnt. _She's sly, that Ayuzawa._

As Takumi's brother returned with tea, he didn't miss the reminiscing smile on Takumi's face. Somehow he felt a bit guilty. But this wasn't his fault, so why should he care? Carefully, he set the glass tray down on the coffee table, gaining Takumi's attention. As peacefully as the falling snow, Takumi glided over and sat on one of the plush couches across from his brother.

"**You know, Brother,**" he began pouring sugar into his tea. "**I'm surprised you didn't lock me up in a mansion full of servants and bodyguards watching my every movement.**"

He watched intently as his brother sipped the piping hot tea. "**You're smart. I knew you wouldn't try to escape.**"

The two of them sat in absolute silence. They continuously sipped the tea until there was none left and even then, it was horribly quiet. Takumi was the first to break the silence by clanking his ceramic cup lightly against the tray.

"**Brother?**" he looked up. "**I've been here over a month. Isn't it about time I knew why I was brought back?**"

In return, Takumi received an odd look. "**Well, I was tell you in the morning. But why wait, we're both wide awake.**"

Takumi's brother brushed back his bed-head of black hair and made his way over to his desk. He pulled out a file from one of the drawers and handed it to Takumi. Takumi examined the file. It was labeled 'Japanese Expansion'. Takumi opened the thick folder. Inside were plans. Plans on suitable places to open new buildings according to a list of recent statistics. There were design plans and budgets in there too, pictures included.

"What is this?" Takumi murmured to himself. "**What is all this?**" he asked.

"**Grandfather called you back.**_"_ his brother explained sighing. "**He wants you to lead that project.**"

"**Is that why we're still in Japan?**" Takumi asked.

"**Exactly. Its because we need you here. Bringing you back to England would just be troublesome. Father doesn't want to see your face and Grandmother had to practically force Grandfather to come here just to talk to you. I was given the ugly job of bringing you back because those two were too immature to do it themselves.**" His brother stifled a yawn. Tiredly, he stood up and made his way towards the door. _"_**The file's yours. Do what you want with it, we've got plenty of copies. Now go to sleep Takumi.**"

With that Takumi was left alone in the plush study, papers and pictures spread out across the coffee table. "...rrrrrrrrrgg!" Frustrated, Takumi buried his face in his hands. "What the hell is this!" he exclaimed in a whisper.

* * *

**Be sure to check out my profile for more info on updates! You gotta scroll all the way to the bottom, but its there!**


	17. You're Always on my Mind

"Happy New Year, Mom!"

Misaki and Suzuna entered Minako's room with great enthusiasm. With them, they brought a cake and mini firecrackers. They cut the cake and lit the fireworks in front of the window at midnight. They smiled, laughed and anticipated the year to come. Chiyo was with them, checking on Minako's IVs and stats every half-hour. she brought in extra pillows that she laid on the floor for Misaki and Suzuna to sit on comfortably. Minako worried about them being too loud, but they weren't the only New Year's visitors. The whole hospital was open for patients who couldn't go home for the holiday to spend the night in the building with their families. It was almost funny at the amount of people there. Just down the hall, one patient's whole family flew in from Okinawa and twenty people were trying to cram into one room.

Festivities continued late into the night. It was around 1 am that the hospital fell into silence. Suzuna and Chiyo had really bonded over the night and were fast asleep on the floor atop the pile of fluffy pillows. However, Misaki was, as always, unable to sleep, afraid the nightmares would come for her if she were to close her eyes. She sat wide awake, leaning against the side of her mother's bed staring out the window, unaware that Minako as well, could not find peace in sleep.

"Misa?" Minako called quietly.

"Hm?" she answered absently, eyes focused on the twinkling stars.

"Misaki?" she tried again. This time, she received no answer.

Somewhat annoyed by her daughter's absent-mindedness, Minako leaned down until she was right by Misaki's ear.

"Mi-sa-ki!" she chirped airily.

She watched her daughter's reaction. It seemed she received the same one every time she called her name. First, her shoulders tensed, rising to cover her ears in surprise. Her eyes widened, then calmed, flickering with a depressed look that seemed almost as if she was about to cry, showing the prominent shadows beneath her eyelids. Slowly, her shoulders lowered themselves but didn't fully relax. Some life returned to her face and she turned to face her mother.

"Hai, Okaa-san?" she whispered, attention captured.

"Not sleepy?" Minako questioned.

"Mm." Misaki shook her head lightly. "Not really. I'm still feeling energized." She grinned silently.

"You should sleep Misaki, you look like you could use some." Minako urged.

"Even if I was tired, I can't." Misaki yawned.

Minako placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Misaki," the look on her face was one of understanding and that scared Misaki. "sleep."

Misaki looked back to her mom, scared. "I can't." Was all she said.

"You know," Minako started. "You look like I did only a few years ago."

Misaki immediately picked up what she was trying to say. "And now I actually know how you feel." Misaki gave her mom a helpless look. "Is this why you can't hate him for leaving?"

Minako just smiled sadly. She watched as Misaki lifted her lightly fisted hands to try and wipe away the sound of his voice from her ears and hide her blush. Misaki refused to look at her mother as she stood. Without a word, Misaki gathered the trash and dumped it in the bin before grabbing her bag.

"I'm going home, Mom." She smiled at her mother tiredly. "I'll try to sleep if possible." She reassured uselessly.

"Misaki," Minako called. "He'll come back to you."

"Mom, now how could you know somet-"

"He's not like your father, Misa." Minako tried to convince her. "He will return."

"Right." Misaki grinned wearily before leaving the room.

The room floated back into silence before Minako turned to face the two 'sleeping' girls on the floor.

"All right you two. I know you're awake."

Suzuna and Chiyo sat up, staring intently at Minako to explain.

"Okaa-san?" Suzuna asked emotionlessly, "Will Onee-chan be okay?"

"She'll be fine, Suzuna." Minako reassured her.

"But, how are you so sure Usui-kun will come back?"

Minako just smiled. "Motherly instincts."

* * *

Takumi closely watched the falling snow from his bedroom window. He followed each snowflake falling as slowly as a cherry blossom in the wind, disappearing into the pile on the balcony. He kept his hand on the window, not caring for the fingerprints it would leave. He enjoyed the feeling of the cool glass under his fingertips, a contrast to the sweltering heat of the fireplace by the bed. The carpet burned under his feet, having absorbed all the warmth form the fire and the room was somewhat smoky due to the fact that he had left the door closed. Sweating slightly, Takumi opened the balcony door a little bit, letting in the cool breeze and letting out the grey smoke.

The ticking of the grandfather clock was muffled by the bedroom door, but the chanting servants were loud enough to be heard.

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...3...2...1...

"Happy New Year, Pres." he whispered. The cheers of servants and echoing tune of the grandfather clock made it almost impossible to hear himself. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Wait for me."

Closing the balcony door so that it was only opened by a tiny crack, Takumi put out the fire and slipped under the luxurious covers of his bed.

In the darkness of the room, the whistling of the wind outside sung a sad tune. And with the coming wind, the snow blew faster, a white sheet now covering the sky. Silently, like a lone tear, a snowflake, intricate and beautiful in design, slipped through the crack and drifted towards the carpet. And slowly, the delicate flower touched the warm carpet and disappeared.

* * *

On the way to the metro station, Misaki past by his old apartment building. She stared absently at it as she walked on by. _Its useless._ She thought. _He's not coming back, is he?_ Misaki smiled wryly. That bastard promised. She swore never to trust men ever again and yet, she let him find his way into her heart. Only to have him crush it. Misaki yawned. She really was tired. _Damn it. I can't let him control me!_ Misaki was silent as she bought her ticket and sat in the first seat by the door.

_That bastard!_ she felt the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. _Baka, idiot, pervert, stupid, stupid, STUPID! The idiot! _she screamed mentally._ He never broke his promises! I stupidly assumed he wouldn't brake this one either. BAKA! He was just messing with me this whole time! IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT!_

"Damn it." she swore. Misaki slammed her fist into the cushion of her seat, her ferocity scaring nearby passengers.

_I won't be played with him._ Misaki glared at the floor, fire returning to her eyes. _He can't control me. I won't let him._

That night, was the first in a long time, that Misaki slept peacefully.

The nightmares didn't bother her again.


	18. The Confusion Before the Uproar

Suzuna was sweating. She tiredly peeled off her winter coat and dumped it on the floor by her bed before rolling over and trying to get back to sleep. The house was way too hot. _Wait...hot?_ Suzuna shot up in bed. She pulled both sweaters over her head and removed her socks. The air was warm. She jumped from the bed and opened the door. It wasn't just her room, the whole house was warm.

"Onee-chan?" she called, heading down the stairs.

She found Misaki in the kitchen, munching on a sandwich.

"Suzuna! You're up." she replied surprised.

"Onee-chan..." Suzuna said drearily. "...what are you wearing?"

She was referring to the sweatpants and tanktop that Misaki sported. But that wasn't the problem. It was the dirt the covered them.

"Oh...this?" Misaki chuckled. "Well, I tried fixing the heating tank in the basement and once I got it working, I accidentally slipped on some of the tools I brought. I kicked up a lot of dust." she grinned. "What about you? You've been asleep all morning. Its not like you."

"Eh?" Suzuna glanced at the clock. It was almost 1:00 in the afternoon. "Oh."

Then without another word, she turned around and headed straight back up the stairs.

"And Suzu!" Misaki called after her. "Don't forget, today is the last day of the winter holidays. Be sure you're all ready for school."

"Hai!"

Misaki gulped down the rest of her sandwich before following her sister up the stairs to get changed. It was only a week into the new year and Misaki had made incredible progress. Despite the snow, she had managed to fix the gate, replace some rotting wood from the front porch, clean up the basement and today, fix the heating. She slipped on a pair a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt, dumping the dirty clothes on the floor by the door. Searching for some socks, she managed to find two that looked similar enough. She slipped them on and grabbed her bag. Heading down the stairs, she frowned at the fixed boards in the entryway. They were a pain, and she'd covered them up with some old carpets she found when cleaning up the basement. After all, anything that reminded her of _him_ was bad. She stuffed her feet in her boots and grabbed her winter coat.

"Suzuna?" she called back, not really expecting an answer. "I'm heading off to work! See you later!" With that said she creaked open the door. _Got to buy oil to fix that, the kind that doesn't freeze in cold weather._ Misaki slipped under the falling flakes of snow and was on her way.

Suzuna sat on the steps as the door closed and her sister's hand slipped through the crack to the other side. Something had definitely happened.

* * *

The weather was normal. The customers were normal. The uniform was normal. Misaki was acting normal. So why didn't Satsuki feel like it was a normal day? She sighed at her dilemma and stared at the cheerful girl serve customers from behind the curtain. Her smile seemed like it was made from plaster, but it was not fake. The small wrinkles that pulled down her expression did not dull the genuine cheerfulness in her voice. Something was just...different. Satsuki sighed again before retreating to the kitchen for some mental rest.

Misaki finished up her shift and, taking the usual leftovers, headed off down the snowy road home early that evening. Deciding that her mother could go one day without seeing her, she took the time to head to school. Classes beginning the next day, she wanted everything prepared beforehand. The lights shone through several windows in random places in the school. It was like the mouth of a child who'd lost most of his teeth, anxious for the new ones to grow. As she approached, Misaki could see the shadows of some teachers in the staff lounge and the janitors cleaning off hallways. She strode through the doors to see the teachers, and settled all necessary paperwork within the hour. With time to spare, Misaki headed to the roof.

She didn't know what she expected to find there, but found herself extremely disappointed when she arrived to find the door buried closed. The snow outside had piled up, making it impossible to push the door open. She trudged back down the stairs and as she was about to round the last corner, Misaki swore she saw a flash of that blonde spiky hair. Chasing after something she thought was an image from a dream Misaki dashed around the last flight of stairs only to come face-to-face with someone who she was not expecting to see.

Misaki blinked forcefully several times as if she were imagining things. "Takamura-san?" She pointed, confused of what she was seeing.

Takamura turned to Misaki. He was wearing a winter coat, as if he had just entered the building, but from below the knee-length fur trim, the Seika high uniform pants were easily distinguished. She noted that his piercings were gone, having been removed earlier.

"Ah." he acknowledged her presence as if it didn't surprise him at all. "Ayuzawa-san? Do you come to this school too?"

"H-hai." She answered, approaching him. She finally realized just how tall he was. She almost had to strain her neck to look at him. Her head only reached around his shoulders. "But wheat are you doing here?"

"I'm a new transfer here as of tomorrow." he explained simply.

"Huh?" Misaki blinked blankly at him.

* * *

Takumi rubbed his head. He just couldn't get his mind around what the hell he was supposed to do. Being the stubborn idiot he was, he burned the first assignment file he was 'so graciously' given by his brother in the odd hours of the morning all those months ago, but, even after being given the full details; his grandfather's instructions; a budget to plan his assignment with accordingly; a layout of what was to be done, complete with times and dates for all the meetings, Takumi just didn't know what was right anymore. He was being blackmailed by his brother, being controlled by a grandfather who didn't even want to see his face and was about to do something he absolutely, really didn't want to do. But before he could make a decision, he had to talk to her.

Takumi knew it was forbidden, but how long had he gone without hearing her voice, seeing her face? Being cooped up in the mansion except for the occasional break kept him out of touch with his "companions." But he knew that if he made this decision without consulting her, or at least telling her first, no matter what happened when he returned, she would hate him even more. But, how he was going to meet her without them finding out, he didn't know.

He needed some fresh air. Besides, his resignation letter had yet to be given in at Seika High. Standing, Takumi grabbed the signed letter from the drawer of his cluttered desk and headed towards his brother's study. He knocked softly on the door, hearing a brief **"Come in."** before daring to turn the handle.

**"Brother?"** he addressed politely, entering the room.

**"Takumi?"** Gerard sighed, eyes not leaving the papers in front of him. **"You have spent too much time in Japan. No need to try and flatter me using those useless Japanese traditions. I have a name, I suggest you use it."**

**"Gerard?"** he began, showing the enclosed letter he knew the man would not turn to see. **"I have to go turn in my letter of resignation to the school. Is it all right if I walk there by myself? I could do with a little fresh air."**

**"All right." **he agreed all too quickly. **"But take Zach with you. The teachers need to show him the ropes. After all, he's joining Seika as of tomorrow."**

**"Of course."** Takumi frowned, realizing that he now had an escort. He could practically feel the smug smirk on Gerard's face as he left the room without another word.

* * *

Misaki headed home somewhat lightheaded and disoriented, but it wasn't from stress, it was from confusion. She had been sure that Takamura was in university at the least. She knew he wanted to become a surgeon, but that was about all she knew about him. She had no idea that he was in high school, and her same age at that! Why would he transfer in so late? There was only 5 months until they graduated. She sighed and chucked off her coat letting it fall to the floor without a care before doing the same for her boots and trudging up the stairs to her room. She dropped her school bag to the floor and plopped down on her bed. The bag that was previously full of papers that had been handed in at the school was not a limp sack. It folded against the floor, only a faint imprint, a rectangular bump pressing from inside caught Misaki's attention. She sat up, lifting the empty thing from her feet and opened it.

What she found was the letter Satsuki gave her. It had been so long ago she hardly remembered it. Plucking it from the clutches of a small pocket, Misaki examined the letter before opening it. What she read was not what she had been expecting...not that she knew what to expect in the first place. She glanced at the clock. It was late, almost 9:30, she would have to act tomorrow. She carefully folded the letter and tucked it away, back in the envelope. _So he's in on it, now is he? I wonder just how much he can tell me?_ She hissed angrily as she thought of just how much of a fool she was.

* * *

**Hi everybody! I'm sorry about the _extremely_ delayed update. I was having a bit of internet problems and the guy who came was _supposed_ to fix it, but he only made it worse. I was out of internet for TWO WEEKS! TWO WEEKS! They had to send another person to come and get it working again. I thought I was going to die! So I have been drifting on and off line from stray computers all throughout my relatives houses to check on the stats while my internet was down, BUT, now it is back up, so the updates should soon be back on track :) Thanks for being patient and waiting so long for me to update!**


	19. No More

Misaki trudged into the school two days later. Her uniform was crisp, her posture was perfect, her face was stern as always, but she had to drag her feet into the school. She didn't want to go. She really didn't want to go.

Reason #1: She knew that when she got there, Takumi wouldn't be there.

Reason #2: Takamura was there.

She stomped angrily up the stairs, only to catch a snippet of one of the teachers talking.

"So Usui Takumi really transferred out of Seika, ne?"

She stopped in her tracks, smiling bitterly. So this was his "silent" goodbye. She would have to deal with the uproar that came with his transfer by herself. What no one knew was that she was the one who was affected by it the most. She gripped the thin banister tightly, nails digging into the black plastic coating. Her eyes narrowed in pain, the bitterness overwhelmed her. She was so caught up in her emotions that she didn't notice Sakura and Shizuko coming up the stairs.

Sakura was bubbly as always, and it was Shizuko who noticed Misaki staring into space in the middle of the stairs. Quickly, she pulled Sakura to the side of the stairs, out of Misaki's view, placing a hand over Sakura's mouth, silencing her with a stern look. With her head, she gestured to Misaki, who was just above them. They peered up at her from their hiding spot on the side of the stairs. Her facial expression was overly clear to them. They stared quietly, hoping she would say something that would tip them off about what she was thinking.

"Damn it!" Misaki swore loudly, scaring them out of their hidden spot. But it went unnoticed as Misaki started stomping up the stairs, swearing all they way to the top.

"Shizuko, what was that about?" Sakura asked, worried.

"I wish I knew." Shizuko replied, staring after their long gone friend.

* * *

Class started as it always did, with homeroom. Takumi's name wasn't called. Misaki didn't notice, but everyone else did. They asked what had happened. The teacher calmly explained that he had transferred schools and that he would not be returning. Misaki rolled her eyes when some girls started tearing up and crying. _Geez_. she thought humourlessly. She sat silently through the first two classes, Math and English. At the first break, Misaki immediately darted from the classroom, the claustrophobic air suffocating her.

All her classmates cared about was 'What happened to Usui?' She knew that if she stayed they would all start asking questions. She could already hear the news spreading throughout the floors as the classes mingled. She headed towards the roof, but stopped at the stairwell when she remembered it was blocked by snow. So in another attempt to distract her mind, Misaki redirected to the student council room where she reviewed everything she could find until the finished work was perfect. Once done, she remembered a fleeting image of Takumi sitting on the corner of her desk, smirking at her. She stood in surprise, her yelp echoing in the empty room. She sighed, closing her eyes and walking away, only to stub her toe on something.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, bending down to stroke her injured foot only to notice the blue recycling bin she had toppled, the few papers inside fluttering out.

Misaki simply ignored it and left the room, stomping back to the class. Apparently her mind wasn't distracted enough. _ARG! I can't believe I'm actually going to go see that, that, that STUPID person today!_ She slammed her hands into her desk effectively scaring the students around her. Their cries of terror suddenly brought her back to her surroundings. Misaki stared at them for a good couple seconds, examining their terrified faces as the students cowered on the other side of the room, before giving them a nervous smile.

"I'm not that scary, am I?"

* * *

The spacious room was dimly lit, the back wall of windows letting in the fading evening light, casting long and dark shadows. The large luxurious door opened without a sound, but the sound of soulless shoes clacking against the floor echoed throughout the building. Misaki stepped into the room, ignoring the escorts trying to keep her out and approached the man at the desk without hesitation.

"I'm very sure that I mentioned for you to make an appointment in that letter I gave you. Congratulations on finding it in the first place. Though I expected to see you much sooner." He answered without looking up from his work.

"I apologize if I messed the memo. I shredded that piece of crap to bits after reading it." Misaki answered standing in front of the large desk.

Misaki unceremoniously dumped her bag to the floor and slammed her hand on the table, knocking over the pile of paper that sat there. She was pissed.

"Why the fuck didn't you put that stupid letter in an easier place to find!" she demanded angrily.

"Hahahahaha! Straight to the point as always, aren't you Ayuzawa-kaichou. Well, what do you want to know?" He gathered the papers together again, finally looking up at her.

"Well," she leaned in threateningly. "what can you tell me, _Igarashi-kaichou_?"

Tora smirked. "Why don't you take a seat while I explain."

"Fine." Misaki grumbled, following Tora to the plump couches in the center of the room.

They sat on the couches across from each other. Misaki slumped in her seat, raising her hand to brush away some of her hair and some her confusion.

"Tell me everything you know, Igarashi-kaichou." she stared him straight in the eyes.

"Just tell me one thing Ayuzawa-kaichou." Tora stared straight back at her. "Why do you want to know so bad?" he smirked.

Misaki just glared at him with determination. "I don't want to run anymore. No more! When my father left us. With his absence he took everything that made my family happy. And I ran from that reality. I took my anger towards him out on other people, I ran. I ran from everything that reminded me of him. But Usui, he came at me with a different approach then all the other boys who had challenged me, including you, Igarashi-kaichou. Because of him, because of _him_, I confronted everything I didn't want to whether I liked it or not. And now he's left, but I'm not going to take that anger out on other people." Suddenly, the atmosphere around Misaki got incredibly dark and eerily calm. Tora could practically see the madness in her eyes. "No, I'm not going to take it out on other people. I'm gonna find that perverted alien and when I do he's going to feel the extent of my wrath. That he will. No more running. From anything."

Tora could feel the sweat beginning to drip from his face from the pressure emitting from Misaki, but he kept his face as calm and emotionless as possible.

"So," he asked, trying not to set off her anger. _Usui Takumi, what did you do to her?_ he gulped nervously. "Where should I start?"


	20. She Knew It All

She knew.

Misaki couldn't think of anything else as she stepped into the empty hallway outside of Tora's council office.

She _knew_.

Face devoid of expression, Misaki didn't know how to handle all the information.

_"Its a test, an 'assignment' if you would." Tora began to explain._

That was one hell of an assignment, that bastard alien. He was going to get it. But that wasn't what irked her. Why hadn't Misaki been told?

_"Usui Takumi is with his grandfather and his brother. His grandfather wants to see if he has the guts to go against him and take things into his own hands. That is what the 'assignment' is for." he continued._

_"And what exactly is this 'assignment'?" Misaki asked. The porcelain teacup felt heavy in her hands, though the weight did not come from the object. The release of tension in her shoulders as she relaxed made her so sore she could barely keep her hands from shaking. Gently, she set the cup on the glass coffee table, relinquishing the weight from her muscles. But her shaky fingers had spilt some of the hot beverage, some decorative tealeaves raining down the side and sticking to the cup like tear stains._

_"Would you calm down first?" Tora asked, none-too-kindly, noticing her unkempt composure. Just moments ago, she was as fierce and strong and demanding as ever. In fact, he could still see the flaming blaze in her eyes. It was simply that her anxiousness that kept her body from completely calming down, though her mind was absolutely clear._

She knew it all since the beginning.

Misaki stomped down the hallway, towards the Student Council lobby. She reached the open space quickly enough, the bright fluorescent lights a contrast to the dim shadows of Tora's office. She squinted as she stepped away from the desk and towards the door leading outside. She pulled open the first set of doors, standing in the silent pocket of space between both doors. It was raining. And not just a light shower, it was pouring densely. Waiting faithfully in the wetness was a limo that Tora had asked to take her to the main entrance.

The man stood in the rain, holding the door open, as instructed. Misaki took a deep breath, raised her bag above her head, pushed the door open and dashed into the luxurious vehicle. The butler took a second to realize that someone had entered the car and closed the door. He went to the driver's window and gave the man at the wheel the go-ahead to head to the entrance before entering the building to dry himself.

Why didn't she _tell_ her?

_"I __**am**__ calm, Igarashi-kaichou. Please, continue." Misaki answered staring at the spilt pool of tea. She made no move to clean it. Had she been here on normal Student Council business, she would have apologized immediately and insisted that she clean it up right away. But she simply gazed at her distorted reflection in the amber pool._

_ Tora was by no means convinced, but was not about to face her anger and so, he continued._

_"You remember Maki's tirade on turning Maid*Latte into a butler café, yes?"_

_"Of course I do." she fumed quietly. "What does that have to do with anything?"_

_"It is something of similar intentions to that." Tora attempted to explain. "This is a kind of training, a kind of preparation for him."_

_"Preparation?" Misaki finally looked up at him. He had finally caught her full attention. "Preparation for what?"_

_"Preparation to see if he was fit to lead part of his grandfather's company."_

Why didn't she say anything?

The limo stopped at the edge of the entrance. Misaki thanked the man for driving all the way, gaining a genuine reply and a smile. She took a deep breath and plunged herself into the water. Even wit the rain, Misaki bowed politely to the driver before taking off down the sidewalk in a rush. She had to know, even though the answer was clear. She knew. She knew and didn't say a word, even after seeing Misaki through the pain. She had come for answers and had received more than she bargained for.

Searching for the stairs leading underground, Misaki dashed down under the sidewalk. The muggy and humid air of the metro lobby was comforting. Misaki dropped her soaking arms and bag to her sides, shaking the wet weight from her limbs. She reached into her dripping bag and pulled out some coins for the ticket. Stepping away from the counter, Misaki slumped towards the waiting area, each step heavy and tiring. Misaki was headed downtown.

She had spoken to him, and feigned ignorance.

_"I thought he was going to be cut off once he'd graduated high school?" Misaki questioned._

_"That was the original plan, yes, but President Walker has heard of, seen and experienced Usui Takumi's intelligence and wit first-hand. He wants to know if he can use it to his advantage. His son, on the other hand, is by no mean pleased."_

_"Great." Misaki said, "Can we get back on topic, please. I'd like to know more about this assignment."_

_"I believe it was you who derived from the original topic, Ayuzawa-kaichou." Tora pointed out smirking deviously._

_"Just get on with it." Misaki glared, not liking the triumphant grin on his face. He was so obnoxious. Why was she here? And why was it him of all people?_

_"Very well. Usui-kun is to act as a manager for one of the Tokyo branches of President Walker's company." he answered simply._

_"Which company?" Misaki asked out of pure curiosity. She just wanted to know though she had no reason to._

_"The Requiem Bank."_

_"What? The Requiem Bank!"_

_ Tora just smirked at her._

_"So that's what you meant by 'he's on a whole other level.' He really is." Misaki went silent for several unnerving seconds, pondering the information that had just been bestowed upon her._

Why did she keep quiet? _Why?_

Misaki walked out of the muggy metro station. The pouring rain had lightened and it was now a steady drizzle, not that it mattered at this point, Misaki was already wet. She pulled her blazer closer around her and walked slowly towards a large building somewhat in the distance. She walked close to the walls, prepared to duck under a canopy or into a store if the rain picked up again. Once arriving, she walked in slowly. Her surroundings were familiar, but it was not a place where she liked to be. The elevator ride was as slow and nerve-wracking as always. It was a sign that made Misaki feel somewhat comfortable.

She walked past many people who who'd have recognized her had they noticed her. Reaching her destination, Misaki opened the door and stepped inside the room without so much as a warning. She turned to the only person there. And she was mad as hell.

"You knew. You _knew!_ So why didn't you say anything?"

_"But why did he go. Its not like he was forced to." Misaki whispered angrily, annoyed but concerned._

_"They held leverage over him. Apparently, something important to him was at risk." Tora stared straight at Misaki._

_"What leverage? What could they possibly use against him, he keeps everyone at an arm's length away, how could the-" Misaki was cut off by one word._

_"You."_

_ Misaki blinked at him as if he were crazy._

_"Excuse me, what?"_

_"__**You**__, Ayuzawa-kaichou. It was you they held against him." Tora leaned forward, staring her straight in the eyes. "You don't think they know anything. They have files on every single person Usui-kun has ever spoken to. Even random people he's bumped into on the street and have said less than half a word to, have a full file in President Walker's filing cabinet."_

_"Why?" Misaki asked._

_"Because, they're scared. Usui-kun's smart, too smart." Tora leaned back into the soft couch and looked back out the window to the sunset. The colours were bright, warm colours. Vibrant red faded below the horizon of buildings, fading into a blunt orange that lined the towers, then into a soft yellow that tickled the tops of the office towers in the distance. There was a fine line of green that gave way to a natural blue, which created the blend of purple into the black sky. Misaki couldn't really tell where the purple started or where the black and blue ended. But though the thick, clear glass of the council office, all those colours looked, bland. "They want a hold on him before he leaves their control."_

_"But how could they possibly use me?" Misaki looked to shocked the manage anything more than a fleeting whisper. The echoes of her nervous voice rang across the room like a soft buzz, a hum of question that left a heavy feeling in the room. At least, that's what it felt like to her._

_"Your mother. They offered to pay for her surgery if he agreed to help, and kick her out of the hospital if he did not." Tora chucked, turning back to face her. "You know, he didn't believe them one bit until they showed everything they'd dug up about you and your family. You, your sister, your mother, hell, even your father. And so, he agreed. They added the condition, that if he does his job well, they'll search for what happened with your father. And so, he left." Tora clicked his tongue in disapproval. "That fool. He would kill himself if it were to make you happy, do you know that, Ayuzawa-kaichou?"_

"Did you know all about this? Why didn't you tell me anything, Mom?"


	21. Answers?

"Knew what?" Minako asked looking up from her novel to see her furious daughter leaning over the metal frame of the hospital bed.

"You knew about Usui leaving! I heard all about it. About how they paid for your surgery. And knowing him, there was no way he'd let you go into surgery blind. He had to have come speak to you!" Misaki fumed, rambling so fast she could barely hear herself. "What did he say to you?"

"Misaki?" Minako looked at her daughter. She was furious and desperate for answers. "Whats wrong? Sit down."

Misaki released the metal bars of the bed-frame from her tight grip and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Her mother shifted to one side of the small bed and patted the space she made in an invitation for her daughter to sit. Misaki dumped her bag and blazer to the floor and sat on the white sheets, neither person caring that Misaki's clothes were soaking and that soon the bed would be wet.

"Now," Minako set her book down. "What is it that you were rambling about? You spoke so fast I didn't catch a word you said."

"Why didn't you say anything, Mom?" Misaki pleaded softly. "You knew everything, didn't you?"

Minako smiled gently. "You know." she drawled. "He asked me not to tell you."

Misaki stared wide-eyed. "So Usui _did_ come! When did you last see him?"

"He only came once. He looked so worn out that I almost didn't recognize him, you know." Minako recounted the events that had passed.

_"You!" Minako exclaimed at the man standing at the foot of her bed._

_"Nice to see you again Ayuzawa-san." he greeted._

_"You, umm, your name was...umm...ah! 'Usui' was it? Yes, if I remember correctly, Misaki called you 'Usui'!" Minako's eyes lit up in recognition._

_"I glad you remember me." Takumi smiled, pushing up his black hat to reveal his face._

_"Its nice to see you again." Minako welcomed. "To what do I owe this visit?"_

_"I don't have much leisure time to speak at will, Ayuzawa-san, so I'll be direct. I'm not sure if I should be telling you this.." Takumi hesitated, "but I thought you would be the most appropriate person."_

_"Tell me what?" she asked, curiosity peaking._

_ Takumi took a deep breath. "I'm leaving for a while." He watched her confused expression before explaining._

_"You don't have to understand, Ayuzawa-san. You just have to know." he persuaded. "And please, don't forget anything I'm about to say. Also, you must promise not to tell anyone, especially her." He stared her straight in the eyes, trying to convey the gravity of the situation. Minako grasped the atmosphere quickly, face settling into a serious expression._

_"All right." she sighed. "What do you have to say?" she urged him on._

_"Your all set for surgery next week." Takumi began, ignoring Minako's incredulous look. "Its fully paid for. Your daughters won't have to come here anymore other than to visit you."_

_"My goodness!" Minako exclaimed exasperated, "I can't imagine what this is all about." She gave the boy an amused, but serious look. "Is this something I should be told?"_

_"I apologize if what I'm about to say is incomprehensible, bu-"_

_"Boy!" Minako glared sternly at him. "Is this something I should know?"_

_ Takumi gazed helplessly at her. "Its something you have to know...otherwise you would never forgive me."_

_"This is the price my family is willing to pay to take me back." Takumi sighed. "I've accepted their offer. I'm going because...I don't want to see her suffer anymore. I don't want to see her cry anymore. I know that my leaving will cause her pain. But just know, I'll be back. I'll come back Ayuzawa-san. So you must get better. Give her strength, make her smile, make her laugh. Make sure she doesn't cry over a stupid perverted outer-space human like me. Please." He bowed low. He was practically trembling in anger, guilt and regret. His next words were so soft, Minako had to strain to hear them. "I beg you. Take care of her while I can't. Keep her happy."_

_ Takumi didn't move. He stayed bent over. It wasn't until he heard Minako sigh that he slowly lifted his head. She saw it in his eyes only a split second before Takumi averted his gaze. He was desperate._

_"You know," Minako stared at the ceiling. "I thought that once you'd said all you had to, I would understand. But it seems I'm more confused than before."_

_ Annoyed that he wouldn't look at her, Minako called him over. "Come over here, would you."_

_ Takumi walked over cautiously until he stood directly at her bedside. "Lean down, boy! My goodness, all you children are so tall these days." Takumi bent down a bit so that they were at an adequate speaking distance. She stared slightly upward and looked him straight in the eyes, making it impossible to look away. She had the most understanding, caring and compassionate look on her face._

_"Well," she huffed humorously, "I guess I'm not supposed to understand right away, am I, Usui-kun?" She grinned brightly. She lifted her hands from the bedsheets and slapped him lightly on both cheeks. "Cheer up a little bit, ne? I won't forget anything you said today. Don't worry about it." _

_"Thank you." Takumi said gratefully and headed for the door._

_"Really," Minako looked like she was thinking really hard, grabbing Takumi's attention. "Since you're going somewhere, I'll have to wait until you come back, but..." she pondered it another few seconds, "what can I give you for all you've done for us?"_

_ Takumi only smiled solemnly and turned back to face Minako. "There is one thing you can give me." he admitted, a far-away note of happiness in his voice._

_"Really!" Minako looked somewhat excited at the prospect. "What is it?"_

_"Misaki." With that he waved good-bye, pulled down his hat and walked out of the room. It was then that Minako understood what it was he meant to say._

"So..." Misaki was at a loss for words.

"He's going to be very angry at me when he returns." Minako chuckled. "I promised him I wouldn't tell."

"Mom..." Misaki focused back on what she wanted to say, swallowing the lump in her throat. "His grandfather is the president of the Requiem Bank. He won't be coming back that easily."

Minako looked a bit in shock, but the look of understanding dawned on her face soon afterward. "I guess that I know now what he meant."

"Misaki, be patient. He'll came back." Minako searched her daughter's eyes for reassurance that she heard her. "Okay?"

"hmm." Misaki stood. "I-I'm going home." she shivered. "I'll come visit you again tomorrow, Mom."

With that, she walked lifelessly out of the hospital. There was too much information to take in. The trip home felt brief and silent to Misaki. Her ears could not filter any sound. There was just a dull drone that reminded her of broken television speakers.

* * *

"Was it really necessary to tell her all of that?" Takumi asked watching as Tora cleaned up his office. "I didn't want her to know."

"Well, I felt like playing matchmaker, Usui-kun." Tora looked up, smirking deviously. "Whats wrong with that?"

Takumi sighed.

"I knew you were listening through Maki's door the whole time. You could try being a little more subtle." Tora threw at him.

"Yeah." Takumi answered airily. "Its all going to take more time than I thought." he murmured.

"Did you say something, Usui-kun?" Tora asked, picking up the drone of his murmur.

"No." Takumi turned to walk out of the Council President's office.

"By the way, Usui-kun." Tora's voice stopped him. "You do realize that she's going to kill you when she finds out you transferred here." he stated blandly.

Takumi let out another sigh, but there was a familiar annoyance behind this one and he couldn't help the small smile that formed on his face.

"Yeah." he answered again.

Takumi waved in farewell and with that, he left the Student Council Building.


	22. Stalker

_Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS_

_

* * *

_

Takumi went over the architecture plans for the fourth time. He sighed, frustrated and set the blueprints back on the table as the phone rang...again. He took a deep breath and answered it.

"Hello, this is the man-"

"IS THIS THE MANAGER?" an angered voice came over the phone.

"Yes, I am the manager. How may I help-"

"You better fix my problem right now! You hear me." the demanding woman screamed through the phone.

"Of course Ma'am. If you'd just tell me what it is-"

"I called customer service, who told me to go back to the bank and ask them personally, who told me to call customer service, who told me they'd get me in contact with the manager. It took them a week! I'm very angry right now. So you'd better fix this right aw-" she rambled furiously.

"Yes Ma'am. What can I do for you today?" Takumi sighed silently, finally getting in a complete sentence as he cut her off.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED THAT AS SOON AS YOU ANSWERED THE PHONE DIMWIT! YOU'VE ALREADY WASTED FIVE MINUTES OF MY TIME!" she screamed again.

"I apologize Madame. Could you please tell me your issue." Takumi restrained himself from yelling back at the woman.

"My account withdrawal limit has been reset and 2 of my savings accounts have been suspended. FIX IT!"

"Ma'am, I'm going to need your name." Takumi responded politely.

"I'm not giving you any personal information." the woman hollered. "How do I know you're not going to screw me over?"

"Madame," Takumi breathed. "if I do not have your name, I do not know who's account I am tampering with." he threatened calmly.

"Oh." the woman replied finally reaching her epiphany.

...

"Yes, Ma'am."

...

"_Yes_, Ma'am."

...

"Ayura Mako?"

...

"Of course Madame."

...

"No such account exists, Madame."

"This is the Requiem bank Kyoto Branch, right?" she asked annoyed form the other end.

"No, Ma'am. This is the Tokyo Branch."

"Oh." there was a moment of silence, until "DAMN CUSTOMER SERVICE!"

Takumi could almost hear the rambling beginning again and quickly intervened.

"Thank you for your patronage, Madame." he interrupted swiftly.

Without waiting for a reply, Takumi practically slammed the phone back onto the receiver. He sighed for the nth time and leaned his head on the desk exhausted. He was probably the only person who would receive a call from a client at midnight. A light chuckle was heard from the doorway. Takumi looked up to see Zach waiting for him. He stood, ready to leave, fur trimmed coat sliding off his shoulders. His piercings glinted in the lamplight and gave his fleeting grin an almost sadistic look.

"Time to go Walker-san." He threw Takumi's coat in his face, the heaviness of the lining throwing his back and off the chair.

"WHOA!" Takumi lifted himself off the floor and put on his coat. "Zach, how many times do I have to tell you. My name is 'Usui', not 'Walker'."

"Of course it is." Zach replied, emotionless again.

As they exited the building and leapt into the snowy streets, Takumi couldn't help but glance in the general direction of Maid*Latte. In fact, it wasn't all that far from where they were. Needless to say, his flicking of the eyes didn't go unnoticed by Zach.

"Stalker." he commented into the wind.

"..." Takumi stared at him shocked. "What?" he managed to force out.

"That is what she calls you, isn't it? A stalker." Zach asked calmly.

"Yeah." Takumi whispered meekly as he turned to get into the car. He turned back to Zach grinning. "So, you driving, or am I?"

Zach reached into his coat pockets for his keys, "Of course I'm driving." and found it empty. He looked up to see Takumi standing in front of the driver's door spinning the keys on his finger.

"Not funny, Walker-san." he glared.

"Of course it is." Takumi chorused Zach's previous answer.

* * *

Suzuna inspected Misaki as she stared at her cell phone.

"So?" Suzuna asked.

Misaki rechecked her call log to insure she had called the number Tora had given her. There in her call log was 'Requiem Bank: Tokyo - 12:13am'

"Yeah." she whispered, voice hoarse. "It was him." Misaki coughed a few times before grabbing her glass of water and clearing her throat. "Ugh. I'm never doing that again. All that screaming makes my voice hurt."

"Sorry Onee-chan." Suzuna apologized.

"No problem, Suzuna. Your plan worked perfectly. Now I just got to come up with a plan to catch him off his guard." Misaki stood stretching. She grabbed her phone and glass, dumping it in the sink before heading up the stairs mumbling profanities and ideas. Suzuna just watched Misaki until she disappeared around the corner of the hall upstairs, closing her door with a slam. Suzuna blinked a couple times before making a silent comment.

"Stalker."

* * *

_ Its a bit short. Because of all the drama, I decided to add a little bit of humour xD _

_So, anyone think they know who Zach is yet? I think I made it pretty obvious._

_Await the next chapter, the story's only beginning *evil grin*_

_Miko_


	23. Will You Dance?

**_Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS_

* * *

**

"No. Absolutely not!" Misaki crossed her arms in an 'x' and puckered her lips in a sour face.

"Come on, Misaki! Just this once, for the Winter Dance, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase~~?" Sakura pleaded.

"Yeah, Misaki-san. Just this time." Shizuko added.

Misaki eyed the dress in Sakura's hands disdainfully. Sakura was holding it up by the shoulders, letting the skirt fan out in a circle. Shizuko sat on Sakura's bed, staring at Misaki, smiling. There was no doubt in Misaki's mind that if she refused Sakura here, Shizuko would have a backup plan. Still eyeing the dress, Misaki sighed.

"You called me all the way _here_ from work to make me try on a _dress?_" Misaki pointed accusingly at the two of them. "You said it was an emergency!"

Sakura plopped down beside Shizuko onto the plush pink covers, blinking innocently.

"Yes." They replied curtly. "It is an emergency. You have no dresses what-so-ever and the dance is this Friday."

"Fine." Misaki raised her hands in reluctant defeat. "Just this once."

"YAY! Try it on, try it on!" Sakura giggled enthusiastically, thrusting the dress into Misaki's arms before dragging Shizuko out of the room.

Misaki slumped into the bed, sighing. She held the sewn cloth in front of her scornfully, examining it further. It looked like something Aoi would have stitched, but a bit more mature than girly. The dress was a bright burgundy. The top half was a heart shaped bodice. It was done beautifully with black embroidery and lace and old-fashioned black lace chords ran down the back and would have to be tied. There were long and thin sleeves that reached the elbows and flared a bit to match that of the skirt with black lace at the ends. The skirt was also a burgundy colour. It flared out modestly, reaching just below the ankles if you figured in the thick black lace that trimmed the bottom. The skirt itself was a satin-like fabric, riddled with black embroidery. So much that, Misaki could barely make out the design.

Misaki gulped and pulled off her shirt. If she knew Sakura and Shizuko, she had a feeling it was going to fit perfectly. Misaki slipped on the dress, turning her back to the mirror in attempt to do up the lace on the back of the bodice. Pulling on the chords reminded her of an event they'd had at Maid*Latte the year before.

_ Satsuki had come up with her new theme for the month. Dance Styles. Honoka was ballet and she was dressed in a poofy pink tutu and tights, hair in a high bun. Erika was hip-hop. She picked out her own costume of faded and ripped jeans and a boy-band shirt. Her hair was loose and a baseball cap was on sideways. Subaru was tap-dancing, Gon was disco, wearing a flashy, eye-catching purple dress with green triangles on it and Sayu was a belly dancer. She was 'garbed', as she put it, in a long sheet of multicoloured sheer fabrics._

_ Misaki pulled on the ends of the slim ruby dress that Satsuki had put her in. It was a tango dress. It had thin spaghetti straps and went just past her knees. Though there was a slit on the left that reached almost mid-thigh. The whole dress was covered in black sequins. Misaki squirmed in her chair as Aoi pulled at her hair._

_"Aoi-chan. Are we done? I want to get my shift over and done with." Misaki admitted, anxious to get out of the outfit she'd been in for less than a minute._

_"Hold still and I'll let you out when I'm done." Aoi flipped the blond curls of his wig out of the way and continued to play with Misaki's hair._

_ Misaki winced slightly as Aoi pulled all her hair back at once, as if she was being dragged. Then suddenly, he let go and Misaki's hair went slack. She reached a hand up to feel her hair but Aoi slapped her hand away._

_"Don't touch. I'm not done." He reprimanded._

_ As Aoi fiddled with her hair some more, Misaki tapped her finger on her knee impatiently until Aoi barked a 'stop it, you weird woman!'. Misaki decided to zone out, reviewing mentally for her math exam. The sensation of Aoi sliding something behind her ear brought her back to reality. She watched as Aoi turned the chair around so that she faced him. He took a few steps back, examining his work, before clapping his hands together in conclusion, exclaiming;_

_"Done!" he grinned. "You don't look half bad, Weirdo."_

_ Aoi grabbed the hand mirror on the table and handed it to Misaki. Misaki blinked at her reflection. That couldn't be her. Misaki's hair was artfully done in a low bun. It was loose enough to be comfortable, but tight enough to hold. Some strands were tactfully left out giving Misaki an energetic look. And finally, her bangs were pulled behind her left ear and held in place by a deep red rose tucked between the strands._

_"A...arigato." Misaki murmured, reaching a hand up to touch her hair, as if it wasn't real._

_ But once again, Aoi swatted her hand away._

_"Don't touch it," he commanded. "I don't know if it'll hold or not."_

_ Misaki could only nod as she stood to go for her first shift._

She giggled at the memory. Aoi had the best sense of style of all the girls at Maid*Latte. Misaki finished pulling the strings of the bodice and focused on tying the chords together. She sighed. She had 4 more months to contact him until graduation. He probably wouldn't come back, but Misaki could at least try. Misaki knew that if she went to the dance, she would be alone. Sakura would bring Kuuga and Shizuko would bring her elder brother. She sighed. She would have to be a wallflower. But then again, it was being a wallflower that had gotten her dancing.

_Break time: 30 minutes. 2 minutes passed. Misaki sighed and stared at the clock above the stove. The tango dress was extremely annoying. She wanted to take it off but she still had another shift. She wanted to sit down, but it made the slit in her dress go dangerously high. It was only her and Takumi in the kitchen. He was putting away the cream as he finished the last ordered desert. Misaki stood leaning against the wall. As Takumi leaned up from the low cupboard, he blinked at the sight of Misaki in the tango dress. He hadn't seen her all evening. He pulled of his apron, hanging it on the oven handle, before approaching the unsuspecting girl. He slowly came up to her and once he was in front of her, Takumi gently took a loose strand of hair into his hands._

_"Pres's all dolled up." he stated emotionlessly._

_ Misaki jumped in surprise at the contact, blushing like mad._

_"O-o-oiii, Usui! Do-"_

_"Which style are you?" He asked coming closer._

_"T-tango." Misaki gulped at their proximity._

_"Can Pres do the tango?" Takumi asked._

_"I-Ie." she murmured._

_"Then why don't I teach you?" Takumi he whispered into her ear. _

_ Misaki stiffed and Takumi backed off, heading for the pile of CDs on the round table. He sifted through a couple of them before finding one and popping in the CD player. A smooth violin melody started playing._

_"Usui...you can tango?" Misaki asked._

_"Hai." He answered shortly, offering her his hand to dance._

_ Misaki was about to take his hand but hesitated._

_"Ano...what if I step on your feet? You know how clumsy I can be." she blushed._

_"Oh?" There was a mischievous glint in Takumi's eye. "Don't worry about that. I'm a good lead."_

_ Misaki took his hand and he held hers firmly. He showed her where to put her hands and Misaki shifted uncomfortably. The position was awkward and weird. Slowly Takumi began to guide her movements as they danced to the beat of the strings. Neither said anything. Takumi lead her silently and Misaki followed nervously. Little by little, their pace increased with the rising tempo of the music. Suddenly, Takumi wasn't leading and Misaki wasn't following. Both of them was just moving along with the up and down of the beat. Through her blush, Misaki's lips formed a small smile. It was barely noticeable, but Takumi sure saw it. It surprised him enough to throw him off balance._

_ Takumi tripped, falling backwards, his hold on Misaki dragging her down on top of him. Both of them tumbled into the small square of kitchen equipment. They fell just beside the oven, Takumi's flour covered apron falling on top of them. The light powdering of flour was almost like snow. Misaki took one look at Takumi's unkempt expression and burst out laughing. Takumi quickly followed suit until the flour began to settle and they were caught in a sneezing fest._

_ Takumi recovered first, taking the oppurtunity to capture Misaki's lips with his own as her sneezing died down. Misaki didn't bother resisting, but the pair of blushing teenagers had quite a time explaining their position to Subaru and Aoi when they came in to check on the orders._

"It looks amazing!" Sakura gushed at Misaki's figure as she opened the door.

"Let me see too." Shizuko added, barely able to peek over Sakura's shoulder. "Oh Misaki-san, it looks very nice."

After being bombarded with compliments and not-so-subtle 'You should take it's and 'Wear it to the dance's, Misaki gave in and folded the dress away into a bag Sakura gave her before rushing back to café to finish her rudely interuppted shift. As Misaki passed by the kitchen towards the changing room, she couldn't help but go over her schedule. 4 months. In that time, the last month didn't count, so 3 months. In those 3 months, most of whatever she wanted to do would happen during the 2 weeks of spring break. Misaki frowned. She really did need a plan. _Oh well._ she sighed. _At the moment, my biggest problem is getting out of going to the dance._


	24. A Ticket to Temporary Freedom

The plain white envelope was dumped rudely beside him on the bed. Takumi looked up at the disturbance.

"Take it." Zach said before turning and leaving the bedroom.

Takumi stared unseemingly at the envelope in front of him. What had he just been doing? Ah, reading his book. He brushed the white rectangle aside and returned to the book. He glanced at the envelope with a quick thought, _I'll open it later._

* * *

**4 days later...**

Misaki groaned as she walked onto the small makeshift stage. She did her best to ignore the looks the other students were giving her. She knew she shouldn't have worn it. _Stupid dress._ Quickly dismissing the murmurs around her, Misaki grabbed the microphone and plastered on a smile.

"Welcome to this year's Winter Dance! Food and Drinks are by the east wall. This party's going to last all night, so go ahead and enjoy yourselves!"

With that, the DJ blasted music through the speakers, taking everyone by surprise. Misaki took the opportunity to slip off stage and away from the crowd. Here's where her wallflower plan came in. She stood near one of the gymnasium exits, pressing herself firmly into the shadowed area of the wall. She watched as even the ends of the embroidery on her dress didn't get caught in the strobe lights. She giggled when she saw Takamura get pulled onto the dance floor unwillingly by a bunch of his friends. She continued to watch him, bored. Misaki saw him struggle to free himself and his friends jumped on him to prevent him from escaping. Misaki burst out in laughter at the sight. But of course it just felt like her body was vibrating and the sound was inaudible through the blasting music. She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and straightened herself only to find herself staring straight at the said prisoner.

Takamura glared at her. "That is not funny Ayuzawa-san."

That was when Misaki noticed the spilled punch in his hair. He was dabbing at it with a multitude of napkins, more grasped in his other hand. Her cheeks puffed in laughter again. "Yes it is." she managed to squeeze out without laughing. She did her best but her body was shaking with laughter. She couldn't hold it in and cracked up again in seemingly mute gasps of laughter.

Takamura sighed. "Really Ayuzawa-san, how do you do it?" He scrubbed at the wetness, staining the napkins a bright orange. "I just can't seem to find the energy to keep up with everybody."

"It takes practise." Misaki screamed so that he could hear her.

Takamura didn't reply, but he stepped into the darkness with her, and did as she did; people watched. Misaki didn't notice when from the entrance across the gym, someone entered. Nor did she notice Takamura look surprise followed by a smirk of expectance that graced his face. Takamura watched the figure enter the school through the hallway entrance and knew exactly where he was going.

"Ano, Ayuzawa-san...could you come with me for a moment?" Without waiting for a response, Takamura grabbed her left wrist and pulled her along with him through the door the aformentioned stranger had just passed through.

"Oi, Takamura-san! Where are we going?" she gasped in surprise as the music finally faded from her ears.

Takamura stopped walking and let go of her wrist and turned to face her, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry, I thought I saw a stranger headed to the roof...I was too scared to go and see by myself."

"Really?" Misaki asked, skeptical. "Are you sure it wasn't a teacher or something?"

"Yeah. It was some guy in a long black coat and black hat. He looked kinda tall but I don't think it was a student. He - OI! AYUZAWA-SAN!" he called.

But Misaki was already gone, dashing towards the stairwell. Dressed from head-to-toe in black. A man like that had visited her mother, and it had been Takumi.

_Usui..._

As Misaki disappeared from his sight, Takamura smirked in triumph. He had done it. Misaki had gone for the roof. His job was done.

* * *

Misaki stopped in front of the rooftop door. She immediately noticed that it wasn't locked. She leaned over, taking a minute to catch her breath from the sudden dash. She found it more difficult to do than she thought. Her breathlessness wasn't coming from the dash, but from the overwhelming thought that Takumi was behind this door. Her heart was beating furiously and refused to calm down.

She lifted her head nervously. Gathering her courage, Misaki pushed open the door...

...and immediately regretted it.


	25. That Question

_**Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS TT_TT *sob sob***_

**_Change of plans...won't be near the computer for nearly long enough to post both Chapter 25 and 'It All Depends' Chapter 6 on Christmas...oops...so instead I'm posting Chapter 25 NOW so that I can do 'It All Depends' on Christmas :)_**

**_So Here's the not-so-long awaited chapter!_**

_**Happy reading and Merry Christmas 2010**_

* * *

...and she immediately regretted it. She was freezing. Sakura's choice of clothing wasn't the best when it came to winter weather. She shivered, bringing her hands to rub her forearms over the mesh-like sleeves. The click of the door closing behind her brought Misaki back to reality. She searched the twinkling blackness of the roof but couldn't see. She took a reluctant step into the darkness and felt the concrete brush her foot. Her foot? Misaki looked down. _Shit._ she grumbled silently. _There goes another pair of shoes._ Not able to see anything, Misaki neared the only lit light on the roof, hoping that the proximity would widen her gaze. And she saw him. Standing by the ledge overlooking the pool. He was hunched over, leaning on the edge. He looked like a shadow in the miniature glow of the light.

She approached him, uncharacteristically nervous. Gulping, she tapped him softly on his right shoulder. He didn't seem to notice.

"Excuse me?" she called to him. The air was still and her voice came out in a terrified sounding squeak. She groaned mentally at her own weak voice.

He turned quickly to her, as if he'd been electrified. The first thing Misaki realized was she could not see his eyes. His brim of his hat fell over his face. She could barely make out the contours of his face through his collar. She could also see a few matted wisps of hair peeking out from beneath the hat. And apparently, he couldn't see her either.

"Who are you?"

His voice was clearly accusing. His tone was a bit deep, but crisp. She recognized that voice! She had heard that tone before, but never had it been directed at her. Suddenly feeling bold and empowered, Misaki reached up and ripped the hat right off his head. It took only a glimpse of his eyes in the dim light for her to drop the hat in surprise. Her shoulders went limp in realization, in relief. Her fingers reached out to trace those familiar emerald eyes, palms resting on the sides of his face. She felt his expression soften under her touch as one of his own hands came to cover one of hers. The name came out of her throat in a strangled cry of desperation.

_"Usui!"_

Misaki could feel the small forlorn smile tugging at his lips.

"Long time, no see, Pres."

He was right in front of her! He was here. In the moment of that realization, Misaki could suddenly feel the anger bubble and boil within her. How long had it been since she'd seen him? 3 months! In that time, so much had happened, she had never really come to terms with her anger. The hand of hers that was not being held by his retreated quickly from his face. Misaki made a split second decision, and she was sure he wasn't going to like it. She balled her hand into a fist and threw it at him with all her might. She could feel him slip backwards as he moved beneath her fingertips. The unexpected lunge and force with which she hit him sent Takumi to hit his back on the ledge. He rubbed his cheek murmuring a faint "Ow, haven't felt that in a while." He gave her a look of surprise and amusement as he always did...and she was beyond pissed.

"Of course you haven't! You..." she replied sarcastically. Misaki struggled to find her next words. "You...you!"

And just like that, her anger was gone as fast as it came. Quickly filling the space though was all the loneliness she had felt. The sadness she had endured while he wasn't there. Misaki didn't realize she was crying until she felt her face go cold from the night air.

"YOU BAKA USUI!"

...Or maybe there was still a little anger. Misaki sunk to her knees, her muscles finally giving out on her. Through her tears, she barely saw Takumi approach her as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Everything Misaki wanted to say came bursting out.

"YOU!" She pointed accusingly at the figure squatted in front of her. "You know who I found everything out from? Igarashi-kaichou! and my MOTHER! You told _them_" she spat "but you didn't bother telling me anything at all! You son of a bitch!"

Takumi used one hand to roughly brush back her bangs and used the other to try and stop her from crying by wiping away her tears. "I know. I know Misaki, and I'm sorry." he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers to look her in the eye. But Misaki was unrelenting.

"Of course you are." the sarcasm continued. "Are you an idiot! You left just because someone was threatening _me!_ I can take care of myself! Besides throwing my mother out of the hospital what did they threaten to do to me? Wipe my memories? Increase my family's debt? Or better yet, kidnap me and hold me hostage until you complied!"

"Misaki." Takumi tried again "I couldn't let them do anything to you! You don't understand..."

"No." Misaki interrupted grabbing his collar for emphasis, pulling him, if even possible, closer that he already was. "I _don't_ understand. You're going to have to explain to me _why_ you did such an idiotic thing. You know why? Let me _tell_ you! Because, Usui Takumi, _I'm not worth it!_"

Takumi stared at her stunned for a moment. "W-what?" he grit his teeth, furious. His voice was a deadly calm. "What did you just say?"

Misaki's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Do I have to repeat myself? You didn't hear me clearly enough?" she took a deep breath and shoved her finger in his face. "I. AM. NOT. WORTH. IT! Get it now?"

Takumi grabbed her by the shoulders. Trying to wrench herself out of his grip, Misaki threw herself backwards, landing on the concrete floor of the roof, Takumi leaning over her, hands still gripping her shoulders. He didn't bother asking of she was alright and Misaki could almost swear the sleeves of her dress would rip if his gripped them any tighter. Suddenly, the tears were gone, replaced with a shocked look. He only glared at her, his eyes glinting in the darkness. Misaki could almost sense the temperature get colder, and she felt her body tense up.

"U-Usu-"

"Don't you _EVER_ say that again!" His voice was menacing, threatening almost.

"Say what?" Misaki gulped.

"You _ARE_ worth it. Do you hear me, _Ayuzawa Misaki?_" He asked seriously. "You know how they got me? They not only said they kick your mom out of the hospital, they said they would make it so that she couldn't be treated anywhere! Meaning any medical clinic or hospital in Japan. I know how much she means to you, Ayuzawa, and I just couldn't do it. I've been working like a maniac just to finish this. If this keeps up past graduation, they'll follow up not only my but your university application too! Then there go any chances to escape them."

Misaki's eyes narrowed angrily. "I can take care of my own family! If we couldn't go anywhere in Japan we'd go somewhere else! We could always just leave and-"

"-and tell me, Oh Great One, where would you go?" Takumi shot back. "Better yet, where would you find the money to go? You wouldn't abandon your debt, your lifestyle, your home! You know that. Hell,_ I_ know that! I couldn't just ignore them and let those_ bastards_ that are supposedly my family destroy _your life!_"

"But whats the point! What merits this sort of thing! Why would you do all that for _my_ family? Why would you do all that...for _me?_" Suddenly, the reality of the situation hit Misaki like a bulldozer. Her eyes were suddenly clear and focused, but she was panicking. The thought was causing her to hyperventilate. Her flitting pupils returned to look him in the eye. What she saw there scared her. _No, it can't be. Its just...impossible!_ Something Tora had said to her came to slap her in the face. _"That fool. He would kill himself if it were to make you happy, do you know that, Ayuzawa-kaichou?" _Her voice cracked as the question she was seemingly longing to ask was finally said. "What do I mean..._to you_?"

As if the question was a magic password, Takumi's grip finally let go of her sore shoulders. He didn't answer. He didn't say anything. His right hand flattened against the concrete over her for support as his left hand came up to stroke her cheek gently with his knuckles. Misaki closed her eyes, letting his touch explain. Her hands fisted around his coat collar. He made her nervous. He made butterflies flutter in her stomach. His hand moved further up and softly brushed back her bangs with the tips of his fingers. Takumi's hand rested on the crown of her head as he bent down and pressed a delicate kiss to her forehead. It was short, but the feeling lingered on her flesh as Misaki's eyes fluttered open in surprise.

Takumi pressed his forehead to hers again, a soft and tender smile spread across his lips. The look in his eyes said everything. Misaki averted her eyes, unable to process the raw emotion she was being shown.

"You always have to be so cryptic, don't you?" She murmured scoffing.

"Always." Takumi murmured back with a small smirk before pressing his lips to hers. Misaki gave in without a fight. She had already come to terms with her feelings, as painful as they were, and she wasn't about to run from them. Ayuzawa Misaki, Student Council President of Seika High School didn't run from anything. _Anything._ She kissed him back wholeheartedly for what felt like the first time. She couldn't tell how long they kissed, it seemed like forever. When they parted, both suddenly felt like eternity wasn't long enough. And then he murmured it softly into her ear. It was a short statement. A simple whisper in the wind that gave her an answer.

"I did it because _I love you.__**"**_

"What?" she murmured stupidly.

Takumi smirked a bit at her shocked face. "I'm not playing around with you, Misaki. _I. Love. You._"

She didn't cry. She wanted to, but Misaki felt like all her tears had dried up. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, pulling him into a crushing hug. Takumi returned it, wedging his arms between Misaki and the concrete to hold her, pressing her flush to him.

"I love you." Misaki whispered contently, "Baka Takumi." she added as an afterthought.

"The famous man hater of Seika loves me?" Takumi mocked jokingly "I'm touched."

Misaki could bring herself to say anything else as he relinquished her but "Yeah."

Takumi stood, extending a hand that Misaki willingly took. Unable to resist the urge, Takumi pulled her back into a hug. He held onto her tightly, not wanting to let go.

* * *

Shizuko closed the roof door almost as fast as she opened it. Only two minutes of listening to their hushed voices and her face blanched. She looked over at Sakura, who had a similar look on her face, hands muting the sobs that escaped her lips. Kuuga stood paralyzed in shock behind Sakura, face just as pale as Shizuko's, hands gripping Sakura's shoulders as if his life depended on it.

"Do I have to explain any further?" Zach asked, leaning against the railing of the stairs.

"No." Shizuko immediately answered. "You don't have to say anything else."

She grabbed Sakura by one of her arms, dragging her down the stairs, followed quickly by Kuuga. Zach leaned into the railing as Sakura's sobs were finally released with a wail.

* * *

"How long before you have to go back?" Misaki grudgingly asked, unconsciously holding him tighter.

"It seems Zach planned it all out." Takumi sighed contently, burying his nose in her hair. "He rearranged my schedule so I have a day off tomorrow. They'll look for me when they need me."

"Zach?" Misaki asked.

"Yeah, short for Zachery. He's technically my assistant, but he's usually off on his own. You should know him. He goes to Seika."

"..." Misaki thought about it for a moment. "No...I don't know anyone by that name."

"Hmm." Takumi figured "odd. I guess he doesn't share much. Full name is Takamura Zachery. He's a half."

"Ta..Takamura-san?" Misaki looked at him, shocked.

"So you _do _know him." Takumi chuckled. "He's pretty secretive, ne?"

"He..._he_...ugh!" Misaki leaned her head against his chest for support. "Why am I always caught in between?" she asked exhausted.

Takumi let out a short laugh. It was followed by the loud sounds of the dance dying down, the music finally fading out and the gymnasium doors were opened. Misaki donned a sorrowful look.

"The dance is over." She realized. "I have to go and help clean up. Takumi?"

He was refusing to let her leave. He wouldn't let her go.

"Don't leave." came his strangled request.

"Baka." Misaki lifted her hands to cup his face. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll see you later, okay? You can wait 30 minutes."

"Please." he emphasized. "Don't go."

"Honestly." Misaki sighed. "You think I'm going to let you go after this? No way! You have a day off tomorrow and I know exactly where and how you're going to spend it. I'll meet you in front of the gym when I'm done."

Takumi swept her up for one last kiss before reluctantly letting her go, watching her run off in her broken shoe. He chuckled at the irony. Well he'd have to thank Zach later. But right now, he was more than content with the way things were turning out.

* * *

_**Quick explanation for anyone who doesn't understand the term "a half." Its an expression used in Japan - said in english - meaning that person is half of japanese descent, the other half usually western (refers to North America, in a few cases Europe).**_


	26. As Blank as a Sheet of Paper

**_Disclaimer: I don't own KWMS_**

* * *

Takumi silently entered the house behind Misaki. He couldn't tell whether she was nervous or angry or anything. She wouldn't turn to face him. He followed Misaki's lead, hanging his coat and hat in the foyer closet. Misaki lead him to the living room, and got her first look at what he was wearing. He had clearly come to the dance straight from work, because the suit he was wearing was definitely not one someone would wear to a high school dance.

"Wait here." she spoke for the first time since they'd left the school. "I'll be right back." and so, Misaki's dress clad figure disappeared up the stairs.

Takumi sunk into the couch hunched over. He pulled his tie a bit loose so that he could breathe and held in head in his hands. He took a moment to mull over what had just happened. He had the mad urge to…do something. Scream in frustration, cry in embarrassment, smile in relief, laugh with happiness, all his emotions were muddled. Takumi ran his hands through his hair, slouching over further, cheeks almost reddening from any one emotion.

He had confessed. Sure he had told her on many occasions that he _liked_ her. He closed his eyes, staring at the blinking lights on the back of his eyelids. He had admitted not only to himself but to Misaki as well that he _loved her_. He definitely wasn't regretting his feelings, but he had a feeling he might regret having told her. It was…embarrassing, simply put.

It was in that position, mourning his idiocy that Misaki found him less than two minutes later.

"Whats wrong?" she asked, causing him to snap up his head to look at her.

She stood, arms folded gazing worriedly at him from the doorway. She wore loose, grey sweatpants and a purple tanktop, the straps of her white undershirt visible on her shoulders.

At his stunned look, Misaki repeated her question.

"Whats wrong?**"** she approached him soundlessly.

"Its nothing." he reassured her, standing to match her height.

"Well then, come on up and get some sleep." Misaki commanded half-heartedly, avoiding his gaze and glancing at the clock behind him; 12:46am. "We'll talk in the morning."

They slowly walked up the stairs, careful not to awake Suzuna and the newly returned Minako. She silently opened her bedroom door and shut it just as silently behind them. They stared at each other for several seconds, gazes glazing over temporarily. Takumi could tell what she was thinking and was about to speak when-

"We don't have a guest bedroom and I refuse to let you sleep on the couch." Misaki answered before he could ask. "I'll be downstairs if you need me, and no peeking around!"

As she turned to leave, Takumi's gentle hand came to rest on her left shoulder. Misaki stiffened immediately. She weakly tried to brush off his shoulder, her right hand instead going to grip his left on her shoulder, knuckles turning white from the force she was using to keep her shaking hand still. Forcing herself to believe that it was solid and not just her imagination.

"Ayuzawa?" he whispered, right arm snaking around her waist from behind.

Misaki was terrified. She had longed to see him for so long and now she was avoiding him! She was worried that the whole thing was a dream in her head and that she would wake up the morning of the dance, all of this just a dumb fantasy of hers. Her frame shook, though she did not cry, she shook with fear. She could feel his breath on her neck, his arms embracing her gently. It pained her to know this sensation would be gone with the dream when she awoke.

"H-hai?" she answered hesitantly. Even if it was a dream, Takumi's presence still affected her.

"Don't leave." he breathed into her ear "Stay with me." His words implied something more than just staying with him for the night. Something longer, more real than just this haphazard dream of hers.

And she loved him too much to let him go.

"Always." was her sole reply.

Takumi turned her frame to caress her face in his hands and suddenly, Misaki realized with a jolt as she gazed into his emerald eyes, it wasn't a dream. It was as real as anything. Her pride would not allow her tears to fall twice in one night. Takumi instead read her mind and his mouth swooped down on hers in a longing kiss.

There was something there that neither had noticed before. Something aside from the brutal love that had infested them. There was a sort of passionate desire that burned their skin at the touch. A simple loving wish of being with the other, of giving themselves to the other. And they were unconsciously, answering it. As they somehow landed on the bed, legs tangling together in an intense embrace, Misaki had the fleeting feeling of relief flood through her. She had locked the door.

Takumi could feel her fingertips threaded through his hair. He couldn't really think straight through his desire and as far as he could tell, neither could Misaki. And while they didn't know what was going to happen in the future.

Though their plans remained as blank as a sheet of paper, he knew he had to protect her, even if she felt she had the same obligation to him.


	27. Things Will Work Out

_**Ehehe...=_= sorry about the long wait...enough said.**_

* * *

A breeze blew through the open window of Misaki's bedroom as it illuminated with the early sunrise. She shivered slightly, turning her back to the wind and attempted to pull the bedcover fully over her bare shoulders. _Thats funny_, Misaki shifted to get under the sheets, _I don't remember the bedcovers being stuck?_ Groggily, Misaki opened her eyes and almost screamed, pulling her hand to cover her mouth at the last minute to block any sound that weaved its way out. She lay face to face with Takumi. It was his weight on top of the covers that kept her from being able to pull them higher than her collarbone, his arm slung over her that prevented her from sinking into the warmth.

He slept peacefully, an expression of pure bliss adorning his resting face. Misaki could only assume that he was the one who had opened the window, considering he was above the covers and had managed to find and put on his pants in the darkness of the room. _He looks exhausted. Probably just got to sleep._ Misaki smiled slightly. She stroked his right cheek lovingly for a moment before withdrawing her hand. Unaware of what else she could do in her trapped position besides roll over, Misaki snuggled into the warmth radiating off Takumi and fell back asleep.

When Misaki awoke next, the window was closed and the warm body beside her had joined her under the covers. _Must have gotten cold…_ ran briefly through Misaki's mind as she felt someone brush back the strands of hair that had fallen over her face, causing her to stir slightly. A short yawn escaped her mouth and her eyes blinked open. She gazed at Takumi in surprise for a moment, taking in the situation before returning the gentle look he gifted her with.

"Good morning." he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Same to you." she murmured back. "What time is it?"

"Just past 6:30am."

"Okay." she muttered "then I'm going back to sleep." and so she buried her head in the pillow, forehead brushing against the inside of his left shoulder.

He just laughed at her. It was a small chuckle that reverberated in his chest and made her shiver. She didn't comment, just burrowed further into hiding. And in response, Takumi merely kissed her temple and pulled the covers over her bare shoulders.

* * *

They had been silent all morning. As the afternoon approached, Minako and Suzuna were caught in the thick fog of emotional tension that hung in the room. At around 8:30, Misaki mentioned that if she stayed in her room any longer, her family would get suspicious as she was usually quite the early riser. And so, after Misaki gathered his stuff, Takumi climbed out the window and after an hour, returned to ring the front doorbell, wearing casual clothing and a visitation gift in his hand. Minako had been delighted to see him, hugging him, ushering him into the house. She graciously took the gift from Takumi and left it in the kitchen, not yet discovering what it was, before launching into a conversation. Minako asked how things were going, thanked him again for paying for her surgery, and gushed over him, continuously commenting on how thrilled Misaki would be to see him.

Suzuna was in the living room when Takumi was steered in, watching Saturday cartoons. Suzuna acknowledged him a bit coldly, only saying 'hi' before returning her attention to the television. Takumi sat on the couch remembering that it was right there the night before where he sat, almost regretting that he'd confessed to Misaki…not that they knew that anyways. When Misaki bounded down the stairs, fully showered and dressed, she took a badly masked terrified look at him before averting her gaze and ignoring him. Minako apologized for her behaviour, but Takumi just said that it was fine, after all, she was probably just shy and nervous after last night.

Minako returned to the kitchen with Takumi, where she had started making an late breakfast. Takumi offered to help, which was what landed him and Misaki in the awkward position of setting the table together.

Misaki and Takumi had not talked, they hadn't even looked each other in the eyes since they "met" when he arrived in the morning. Both were thinking the same thing. _If we really want to talk, we can't stay here._ Although the tension was thick, Misaki's face remained red. Every time she braved a look at him, she remembered the previous night. She felt so embarrassed. She felt as if she had acted so shamelessly. This was something her mom was _never_ hearing about. It turns out, Minako, somehow trying to remove the tension from the house decided to act upon her desperation.

"Oh no." Minako pursed her lips, closing the fridge door.

"What is it Mom?" Misaki asked, turning to face her mother.

"We're out of eggs. Misa, would you mind running down to the grocery store to get some, and some milk too?" she asked.

"No problem."

"Oh, and Usui-kun, would you go with her. She might not have enough hands to carry everything back."

"Sure, Ayuzawa-san."

Both teens took advantage of the situation to leave the dishes and napkins in a pile on the kitchen table before all but bolting out the door.

Minako let out a small giggle, opening the door wide enough for Suzuna to see the unopened carton of eggs.

"If they wanted to talk something out, why didn't they just say so?"

* * *

Once out the door, Misaki felt herself suddenly able to breathe easier. She stretched, letting out a great sigh as she and Takumi paced steadily down the snowy street. It was almost March, but the weather had yet to lighten up.

"What are we going to do, Usui?" Misaki breathed into her hands, warming her lungs.

"What do you mean, Pres?"

"You know what I mean!" she rounded on him, effectively stopping his stride forward.

Takumi sighed in resignation. "Yeah, I know. So what?"

"So what? _So what!_" Misaki felt like ripping her hair out. She could feel the agony from the previous night returning.

"Pres." Takumi placed his hands on her shoulders gently and felt her relax a bit. "Pres, calm down."

"What are we going to do, Usui?" She was just...exhausted. She couldn't explain the feeling. She was incredibly anxious and hesitant, and tense and worried. But at the same time, it was all just energy-sucking.

"We'll figure something out." Takumi said, lacing his left fingers with her right and pulled her back into motion. "I promise, Ayuzawa."

"That better be one heck of a miracle you're expecting, baka." she muttered in bitter humour as she tripped over her own feet to keep pace with him.

Takumi just smiled. There would be no need for a miracle. His smile morphed into a confident smirk. He had a plan. It was time, Takumi reminded himself darkly, to remind his grandfather why the Walker family called him a genius.


	28. Authour's Note

_Hi everyone! So I know, I promised to finish up 'It All Depends' by the end of summer, but unfortunately, something's come up. 2 weeks ago I was in a car accident. I was crossing the street and some car drove straight through the red light. I can honestly say I am incredibly lucky to be alive. On the down side, I was hit full on on my right side. Lucky for me it was not on a main street so the car wasn't going too fast, but my right arm (my writing hand), leg, ribs and hip are severely fractured and I really couldn't even sit up properly until a few days ago (albeit while under the influence of very strong painkillers). It'll be a few months at the least for the fractures to heal and a lot of rehab to regain motor skills after that. So, everything's on hiatus until I can use both hands. One handed typing is not very productive. It might be a few months at the least, but I hope you will patiently wait for me to recover so that I can write properly and update! Thank you so much for your support for my writing and I hope you will continue to support me... because really, I'm stuck in this hospital room and reading fanfiction is really what's keeping my mind off of the pain. I love you all! Readers and Writers both :)_


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